After years of inactivity, Sacred Hearts Academy will be bringing back its award-winning robotics program this year. The comeback will not only allow students to learn more about STEM but also learn valuable life skills for future careers in engineering, programming and teamwork. The revival aims to give students the opportunity to explore STEM-related fields. 

Students have been collaborating to build, code and design their own robotics under the guidance of Christopher Thach, a first-year science teacher at the Academy. 

“(Robotics) is an opportunity for students to express themselves,” he said. “I enjoy the engineering design process, in terms of thinking about the end results.” 

The program went inactive last year without a designated teacher to lead the classes. In years prior, students earned awards and recognition in competitions at the state, regional and national levels.

Throughout the process of structuring the program, he says, “It’s nice there are pieces and parts (from the previous program) that I’m slowly identifying and putting together.” 

Thach also discussed the growth mindset, which is the ability to keep improving and learning through dedication and hard work. He says that in robotics, students will face obstacles that are going to help them grow and train them into doing more challenging tasks. 

“It’s so rewarding to see students be like, ‘oh my gosh, that was so hard,’ and then to see that light bulb click,” he said. 

Sophomore Kirra Tamarra was part of the robotics team as a lower school and middle school student at the Academy. She returned to the program this year. 

“(Students) should join robotics if they want to get into something new or fun,” she said. “You learn and gain a lot of great experiences and memories.” 

Robotics has also sparked Tamarra’s interest in engineering, coding and problem solving. She recalled a team trip to Japan for a competition, where they enjoyed competing with international teams and sightseeing. 

Thach continues to build the program and recruit students to join the robotics team. He aims to establish a set schedule and organize logistics to ensure the team’s success this year.