In the past few years, team robotics programs have grown immensely as an extracurricular for school-age kids in Michigan. In 2013, there were just over 100 high school FIRST robotics teams in Michigan, said Gail Alpert, director of corporate involvement and sponsorships with FIRST in Michigan, the state branch of FIRST Robotics. In 2019, Michigan tallied 568 high school teams.

As for FIRST programs for younger kids, those have “grown hugely” in recent years as well, Alpert said. Michigan is now second in the U.S. in terms of the total number of FIRST Robotics teams across all programs and first in the number of high school teams. Previously, a variety of robotics programs were not available locally in northern Michigan, Leete said. Now, schools all over the region offer a variety of successful robotics programs and more robotics programs for students of all ages are popping up.

FIRST Robotics has its own programs for K-8 students and other organizations, like the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation, have separate and difSchools, said she also tries to incorporate as many robotics lessons into her classes as possible.

“By introducing it in the classroom that has helped the program grow, too, because then kids see it and they say, ‘Oh, I’ll join your team because this is pretty fun,’” Johnson said.

Johnson has coached robotics teams for nearly a decade. This year, she and the three sixth graders from St. Elizabeth Ann Seaton Middle School who make up the team “Robo-Saints” are heading to the VEX Robotics World Championship.

Students, coaches and mentors who have witnessed the growth and development of robotics programs in northern Michigan attest to its positive impacts on students, developmentally and even career-wise.

Being on robotics teams connects students with professionals in the STEM field, gives them an edge on their resume and teaches kids valuable lessons in STEM, creativity, leadership and teamwork. It steeps their connection to and interest in STEM fields, teaches them real-world skills like fundraising and puts them face to face with real-time problem-solving.

“I don’t think I’ve seen leadership developed by students faster in any other programs,” said Bill Klein, a mentor for Suttons Bay High School’s FIRST Robotics team.

Many of the mentors and coaches who have been involved in robotics programs in Michigan said seeing students grow and benefit from robotics has kept them in it and even made them hopeful for the future.

Brown said being on the team helped her better focus her interests in STEM as well as improve her public speaking and communication skills in doing presentations and outreach.

“I never really knew where I wanted to go with STEM, and then robotics introduced me to engineering and I fell in love with it,” Brown said. “I’m going to be doing mechanical aerospace engineering next year. And I don’t think I would be leaning in that direction if I wasn’t in robotics.”