Of all the clubs at Lafayette, the one that probably gets the least press is the Rockwood Robotics Team. 

Rockwood Robotics is comprised of around 50 students from all of the Rockwood high schools.  In addition to the students there are four professional engineers and a businessman that mentor the students in their creation of the robots.

However, these professionals do not build the robots for the students.  Many teams that Rockwood Robotics competes again has their robots professionally built.  That is not the case here in Rockwood. 

The robots are designed and built by the students. 

“I’m most proud of the fact that our robot is student built and designed.  We’re competing against people who have them professionally made, and we still got second place last year,” Gifted Education cordinator Paige Hereford, head of robotics at Lafayette, said.

The team has four subgroups: a programming team, a mechanical engineering team, an autodesk inventor team, and a business/public relations team.  These individual groups collaborate to build the final robot.

They will get their “challenge” on Jan. 8, and will have six weeks with which to complete their robot.  Their robot will be displayed in Championships in April.  Championships is an international competition that, surprisingly, is located in St. Louis this year. 

The robots will also be showcasing their robot in various competitions including the Kansas City Regional, St. Louis Regional and then Championships.