Watts Robotics Club

September 21, 2015


Eulises Cibrian

Alain Leroy Locke High School

325 E 111th St

Los Angeles, CA, 90061

 

Believe it or not, the idea of a robotics club was born on the UCLA campus inside the Feast dining hall. It was my last summer of the SMASH UCLA summer STEM program. During dinner, a classmate was talking about the Chilean Heart, I did my research and found out that the Chilean Heart was actually the FIRST robotics team. To my surprise most of the people at the table participated in competitions and had robotics clubs at their schools. They spoke of  classmates who had the opportunity to be apart of Robotics competitions. FIRST stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, it's a foundation that holds various robotics competitions in the nation. As I sat, listening to their great Robotics adventures, I wondered, "Why can't we have a robotics team at Locke?" A robotics team that could be a staple to Locke, that will make the students be proud Locke Saints, something like the Watts Robotics Club.


Locke High School located in Watts, is a community that experiences violence, poverty, and crime. Locke was once known as one of the worst high schools in the nation, with low graduation rate and high dropout rate, Locke was considered a dangerous environment for learning-- not a school but more a war zone for gangs. Fights broke out nearly every day that would eventually turn into riots, fires being ignited in the hallways, weapons taken to school contrary to school supplies. The school went through a massive change when Green Dot took over. It was like a spell was reversed, students no longer had to be afraid. The majority of students are graduating and being sent to 4 year colleges and universities. The teacher and student relationship have improved and is one of the number one things students love about Locke. Even though Locke has changed a lot, it is still located in the middle of a dangerous community. Gang violence is still present and high, sadly, affecting students. Some students fall into the life of violence, making bad decisions that could've been prevented if stability existed.

 

I have a passion for engineering, but I am not the only one that feels the same way. The robotics team will consist of Locke students. We have approximately 11 students who are committing to joining the robotics club. Those 11 students have some of the top grades in our school. These group of students consist of AP Calculus AB and BC scholars, SMASH scholars, One Voice scholars,  and Scholastics Arts and Writing Silver Key winners. That is just less than 1 percent of the entire school, not yet tapping into the major talent throughout the entire campus. There are about 1800 students at Locke, when I announce the coming of the robotics club I know that our numbers would double, even triple! We already have a teacher as our Robotics club advisor, willing to allow us to set up shop in her classroom. Having worked as a technology consultant for the National Writing project, she is suited to be our advisor.


We ask for your help in starting this vision, the vision of having our own robotics club where students can learn about building robots from scratch. I want the Watts Robotics Club to serve as a distraction for Locke students, distraction from the violence they have to face and tempting situations that can lead them to make negative decisions. The ultimate goal is to help them want to attend college and choose a career path that they have a passion for. Starting a robotics club from scratch does not come with a low-cost, nor is it easy. For starters we would like purchase small robotic kits, ranging from lego to bot kits. We will eventually move up to purchasing the wiring, metal, wood, tubing, and tool kits required to build your standard robot. The ultimate goal is entering national and regional  competitions. We want the same opportunities as any other high school student. We as students are in charge of our decisions. There is a low percentage of minorities in engineering, with about 6 percent being Latinos and 5 percent being African Americans. This low percentage of minorities doesn’t exist only in the field of engineering but other fields of study as well. It is in our hands as students of color to make these numbers rise. The Watts Robotics Club will act as a stepping stool to making a change in those numbers. We ask for support and/or sponsorship to build our club. Any contributions will be very much appreciated. Please, if you are interested in sponsoring our team at any level contact me to discuss further details and information. Here is the official Watts Robotics Club gofundme account link for further donations and support, https://www.gofundme.com/wattsrobotics.



Sincerely,

Eulises Cibrian