Robotics Interest Runs High at Winsor

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The Winsor School is a 5–12 private, college-preparatory day school for girls in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1886, and located in the heart of Boston’s Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Winsor prepares young women to pursue their aspirations and contribute to the world. The success and expansion of The Winsor Robotics Club ties directly into the school’s mission as an all-girls’ institution.

The Robotics Club was founded in 2017 with a mission to elevate gender minorities in STEM. In the fall of 2021, the number of students in grades 7–12 that turned out to join the club was more than twice the number allowed on a competing team. The returning members of the Wildbots were thrilled by the outpouring of interest.

“We worked really hard on recruitment over the summer—we held workshops; reached out to students via Instagram, announcements, and the club fair; and held multiple open meetings. All of our hard work paid off at our first meeting when over 40 people showed up! This was both shocking, scary, and exciting—Winsor Robotics Club interest has never been this high,” says Audrey Cheng ‘23, one of three team heads. “We wanted to make sure that everyone would have an active role on the team, and 40 people working on the same robot doesn’t really work, so we decided to split into two teams. After all, if we doubled in size, why not double the work (and the fun)?”

The Winsor Wildbots (FTC #13620) and the newly formed Winsor Wirecats (FTC #20409) worked closely together throughout the season. To optimize efficiency and encourage students to explore their interests in the multifaceted nature of STEM, each team is divided into three sub-groups: building, coding, and business. Leading up to the first qualifier, there was a natural divide into two separate groups based on who was working on which mechanism and code, and the business sub-teams worked together to create two separate engineering portfolios and judging presentations. “We share the same space and will help each other with our robots, so the two teams only truly split when we attend competition,” says team head Abby Bohl ’22.

The Robotics Club was recognized for their outstanding performance and hard work at the FIRSTⓇ Tech Challenge (FTC) State Robotics Competition on March 5, 2022. The Wildbots were awarded the Industrial Design Award, which celebrates the team that demonstrates industrial design principles, striking a balance between form, function, and aesthetics.

The teams qualified for States following a strong showing at the FTC qualifier on February 12, 2022, at Andover High School. After receiving high praise for their portfolios and program outreach presentations in the morning, the Wirecats placed 10th and the Wildbots placed 18th based on scores accumulated during afternoon matches. In addition, the Wildbots won the Connect Award, awarded to the team that connects the most with people and local STEM companies outside of the FTC community; and the Wirecats won the Motivate Award, awarded to the team that embodies the spirit of FIRST and shows enthusiasm for the overall philosophy of gracious professionalism.

“Even though the team is split in two at competitions,” notes Abby, “we are all part of the Winsor Robotics Club and the successes of one team are the successes of the entire club.”

The Winsor Robotics Club is excited to use their newly expanded work space dedicated for use by the two teams. The room was installed over the summer, just in time for the Wildbots and Wirecats to charge into the 2022–2023 season. After years scheduling meetings and work time around classes and class projects in the iLab, the students now have a space of their own that “will allow us to spend less time setting up equipment at each meeting and to create a space that reflects our team members’ personalities,” says Liza.

To discover more about Winsor, join us for our virtual Open House on Wednesday, October 12. To register, please email admission@winsor.edu.

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