St. Charles High offers many electives to its students, including band, photography, graphic design, theater, and the lesser known robotics elective.
According to IT teacher Micheal Zacheis, who currently teaches the class, SCHS has offered this elective for around 10 years now. He has taught it for around six years, having taken over from its previous instructor, Kevin Dill.
“The cool thing for me is seeing what the students come up with when it comes to solving problems,” Zacheis said.
He believes that taking the class can help students to have a better understanding of the technology we use every day.
Sophomore Ethan Cox is currently a student in Zacheis’ advanced robotics class.
“Robotics has always been interesting to me,” Cox said. He also has an interest in machinery and how things work.
“Even if you don’t like doing it, it’s still pretty fun to do,” he said. “Especially for people who like working with.. Are a hands-on guy, y’know, a computer guy… All I can really say is, it’s a lot of fun.”
Another advanced robotics student, sophomore Alex Long, also enjoys the class. Unlike Cox, Long has previous experience with robotics in the form of an elementary school club, which he had been involved with from the age of 7.
“As a kid I always just thought it was really fascinating work,” Long said.
Despite this previous experience, Long has still been able to learn new things in these more advanced classes.
“I’ve learned a lot about the basic mechanisms that make these robots work,” he said. “If they want a future in robotics or mechanics or… anything of the sorts, robotics would be a good way to get into that early on.”
