‘We put a lot of time into each robot’
When ITT of St. Rose approached Destrehan alumnus Brian Young about leading a robotics team at his high school alma mater, he likely knew that simply creating a stable, lasting program would be satisfactory to those entrusting him with the project.
But he almost certainly knew that wouldn’t be enough for Young himself.
The Destrehan High School teacher has always been extremely competitive and driven to succeed, and those qualities are mirrored in many of his students on the Destrehan robotics team, which has evolved into one of the top programs in the state of Louisiana since it was founded almost 10 years ago.
The past three years have represented the peak in the program’s success level thus far: Wildcat Robotics has qualified for the Robotics World Championship for three consecutive years and has advanced to the semifinals of its division in two of those.
Destrehan represents the only program in the state to advance to the World Championships in each of the past three years. For perspective, four teams in the entire state advanced to the world championship.
“We have some good kids and some great young minds,” said Young, who teaches industrial electronics, electricity and basic electronics at Destrehan.
“We have a number of students who believe in what we do just as much as I do and who are passionate about what we do. It’s just a personal challenge to my students and to be the best we can possibly be.”
Young looks to Wildcat Robotics as a way to inspire students about STEM — science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
The team’s runs to the World Championships have brought the students around the country, with the three tournaments taking place in Little Rock, Ark., St. Louis, Mo., and most recently Houston, Texas.
Robotics season starts in January when each team is given that season’s rules, objectives, and game. Every year there is a new challenge. Then, students from all over the world are given six weeks to build a robot from scratch. During this time these students dedicate themselves to prototype, design, fabricate, and program a robot while maintaining their normal class work. At the end of the six week build period students compete from all over the world at regional competitions.
Young credits his team members for driving the success of the program, noting their extreme dedication to making their efforts shine.
“Be it six or seven hours after school, every single day … they’ll come for seven hours on Saturday,” Young said. “We put a lot of time into each robot. There’s not a lot of crybabying about wanting people to go home. It’s a handful, and we have 23 people on the team.”
Many of his team members have found themselves becoming more and more invested in the process as their time with robotics rolls on.
“Some go home early. But once they come back that second year, they stay a little longer and longer,” Young said. “Eventually, when they stay all of the time … we like to call them studs or studlettes. They become very, very important players on our team.”
This year was a banner year for the program. The team gained 12 new members, set two records, went to the World Championship, and met many new friends from across the globe. The team also presented at several elementary schools, held STEM camps, and hosted a FIRST Lego league qualifier all trying to inspire the next generation of pioneers.
At the World Championships, they competed against teams from Turkey, China, Mexico, Canada, Australia, and Argentina, and DHS qualified for their division semifinals for the second time in team competition.
Even after all the work, it’s not always easy. As in any other competition, sometimes things simply don’t go according to plan, and adjustments must be made. At a recent competition, a Destrehan robot was chosen first in the competition’s draft, but the team lost in the finals as another Wildcats robot broke down.
“They have to solve these problems under pressure. It’s not unlike football,” Young said. “Things go wrong and what are you gonna do? You make adjustments. The critical thinking skills (students learn through robotics) is unmatched. It’s not like anything you can find at any school. This is all applied. You use a little physics and a little math.”
Many of his former team members come back to the school to mentor, and seeing the success those alums have had is nothing but more motivation to his students.
Young says his greatest reward is seeing the elation on the faces of his team members when everything clicks in competition.
“When they see success, they’re jumping around, high fiving, that’s my payback,” Young said. “If they’re not into it, if they’re not happy, I’m not happy.”
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