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Interlachen Junior-Senior High School JROTC robotics team members compete against one another by coding and racing around an object. -
Interlachen Junior-Senior High School JROTC cadets learn the basics of “flight” and other components of drones prior to flight training. -
Positively Putnam FL
Junior cadets at Interlachen Junior-Senior High School are tackling new adventures in the school’s new robotics and drone teams.
Eight JRTOC cadets work on the robotics team where they learn how to design, engineer, drive and program educational robots like the VEX v5, according to Sgt. 1st Class David Wettrich. VEX is known to host robotics competitions that span worldwide and offer educational science, technology, engineering and mathematics curriculums from elementary to high school, according to its website.
“The Robotics program has required the cadets to learn many new skills that will help them be successful in other types of technology, from following flow charts, experimenting, troubleshooting and teamwork,” Wettrich said in a press release Monday.
JROTC cadets also have options to pursue academic and leadership teams, air rifles and archery and more. As a JROTC cadet, students learn leadership skills to pursue their careers in the private sector, attend college, trade schools or enter into the military service, Wettrich said.
Adding the robotics and drone programs only increases the numerous opportunities available for cadets, he added.
Under his and Lt. Col. Korey Brown’s instruction, the cadets learn how robots can move with calculated input. Robotics team members compete against one another by coding their robots and racing them around objects in the classroom.
“These programs are very interesting, and I wished these programs would have been available to me the last couple years of being a cadet,” stated senior cadet Ivette Malave.
The program’s drone team competes in virtual competitions nationwide and it helps bring participants closer to obtaining their Federal Aviation Administration drone pilot license, Wettrich stated. The students are able to learn the basics of flight in the JROTC classroom before they enter into flight training, according to information from Brown.
The drone and robotics programs are after-school activities for JROTC students right now, but Wettrich and Brown hope these programs can be offered to Interlachen Junior-Senior High School students across all campuses soon.