Robotics

Robotics is offered at both the middle school and high school level.

High School Robotics

Westlake Robotics provides the opportunity for students to learn real-world STEM skills in an exciting and fun environment both during and after school. Students learn technical skills such as mechanical design; CAD; machining; programming; electronics, and non-technical skills such as teamwork; communication; public speaking; and project management. At Westlake High School, there are six pre-engineering and robotics courses available for students, such as 3D Design and Presentation, Invention and Innovation, Robotics Engineering, Robotics II and III. This hands-on curriculum progressively teaches STEM skills while inspiring innovation and creativity.

As an extracurricular activity, robotics is open to any student at WHS. We have 8 after-school, competitive FIRST robotics teams. Freshmen and sophomores compete in FIRST Tech Challenge, while juniors and seniors do so in FIRST Robotics Competition. Students take leadership positions and work directly with mentors from industry, learning skills not taught in the traditional classroom. These successful teams are given game challenges to problem solve, create prototypes and manufacture robots, and compete at local, state, and global levels. Every year, Westlake Robotics directly engages and impacts the lives of 250+ students.

Additional extracurricular programs include Chap Research and SACOT. Chap Research is a project based innovation program involving product development in a team atmosphere at WHS that gives students the opportunity to acquire real world skills not taught in school. SACOT (STEM Advocacy Conference of Texas) is an organization created to help spread STEM through advocacy in local and state governments of Texas. SACOT was created for two very important reasons: to improve the future of students and improve the future of Texas. SACOT brings together like-minded high school STEM students throughout Texas to advocate for increased government support for STEM-aligned educational activities.

Resources

Middle School Robotics

Middle school robotics is focused on providing students an opportunity to investigate science and engineering in a hands-on setting using robots. Students have the opportunity to work at the level they feel comfortable with. We use several different platforms for building and programming ranging from drag and drop programming with prefabricated parts to text based programming and metal building materials.

Extracurricular and competition teams are open to all students. We sponsor VEX EDR competition teams and hold extracurricular programs throughout the Spring and Summer.