Nike Donates $3,000 to Wentzville Robotics Team

The Ratchet Rockers took second place in last year's regional robotics competition.

The Wentzville Robotics Team, the "Ratchet Rockers," has been awarded $3,000 from Nike for use in its program. The robotics team comprises 30 high school students from both Holt High School and Timberland High School that work with advisor Vince Redman, a Project Lead the Way instructor at Holt, as well as professionals in the community who volunteer their time to mentor the team. In 2010, those mentors formed a non-profit group named Ratchet Rockers, Inc., aimed at fostering corporate partnerships to benefit the Wentzville Robotics Team. Darrell Wodrich, IT Manager for Enterprise Holdings, serves as President of Ratchet Rockers, Inc. and said they are thrilled to have the support of Nike. "Nike has been a strong sponsor of this Ratchet …

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Lake Saint Louis Whiz Kids

Timberland High School Graduate Robert Fletcher Receives Multiple Scholarships

Robert Fletcher of Lake Saint Louis, starting school at the Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, is already loaded up with college credit and scholarships.

Whiz Kid: Robert Fletcher, 18, of Lake Saint Louis. Accomplishment: Fletcher will study mechanical engineering at the Missouri University of Science and Technology, formerly the University of Missouri-Rolla. He's already loaded up with college credit and scholarships. A recipient of the Missouri Bright Flight honor, Fletcher entered the school with two scholarships from the state of Missouri and one from the Association of the U.S. Army (which supports children of Army and U.S. Department of Defense personnel). Fletcher has obtained college credit while at Timberland from Project Lead the Way classes and other AP classes. He also participated in track, cross-country, robotics and skits and band with his church. As a sophomore, Fletcher, …

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High Schoolers, Robots Swarm Community College Center

Representatives and teams from the FIRST Robotics Competition took over the gymnasium at St. Charles Community College to spread the word about the design contest for young, technically minded students.

Six-foot, 120-pound mechanical constructs whir and click throughout the college center gymnasium at St. Charles Community College. The robots move swiftly, with purpose, piston-powered limbs handling and grabbing. Sophisticated, individually designed software drives the beasts forward. Who’s behind this potentially postapocalyptic scene? Who else? High schoolers. On Tuesday night, St. Charles Community College hosted a youth robotics showcase to promote local entrants into the FIRST robotics competition, a worldwide design contest for students interested in engineering. For six weeks beginning in January, high school-aged teams with budgets ranging from $6,000 to more than $100,000 compete to design, assemble and program robots that can …

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Ratchet Rockers Heading to World Competition

First Robotics event is this weekend at America's Center and Edward Jones Dome.

It is the self-proclaimed sport of nerds. "We don't play sports, so we build robots to play for us," Heather Semore, a member of the Wentzville Ratchet Rockets said with a smile. The Rockets, comprised of 30 students from Holt and Timberland High Schools, will compete this weekend in the US FIRST Robotics World Championship — the Superbowl of robotics competitions. FIRST's motto is "a sport of the mind" and sponsor Vince Redman said spectators won't be disappointed. "It really is like watching a sporting event," he said. "You latch onto a robot and cheer for it and its team. It is as addictive as a sport once you've seen it played." The championship will be held at the Edward Jones Dome at America's Center. Events begin Thursday and run …

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Myra Lopez

3:13 pm on Wednesday, April 27, 2011

The University City Robo-lions are in the world competition. And good reminder about the shoes. I wore sandals to cover the event and an extremely nice parent lent me her shoes so I could go down into the pit. I wear a size 6, so it was quite the challenge. Good luck to all the teams. If you've never been to a robotics competition, I highly recommend it.   more ›

Partners for Progress Honors Students for Science, Technology Accomplishment

STEM breakfast speakers emphasize importance of science, technology, engineering, math studies.

A robot affectionately called “Chum Chucker” spit out soccer balls, surrounded by the orange-shirted River City Robots team that created it. Nearby, younger students in the First Lego League knelt on the floor worked remotes controlling smaller robots that cruised the floor at Old Hickory Golf Course Country Club in St. Peters. “We get an assignment and then we have six weeks to build it,” said Elizabeth Stearns, a senior and a home-schooled student from St. Charles who participates in the robotics program. The team participates in international competitions. Chum Chucker was last year’s entry in the competition. But the robot display was just an appetizer for those at the Partners for Progress of Greater St. Charles’ STEM (Science, …

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