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News & Features

Butler school does well at robotics consortium
archived from: 2010-01-04
by: Pittsburgh Catholic Staff

Persistence paid off for this year’s Butler Catholic School robotic team, the Robo-pens, as they competed Dec. 5 in the first Lego League Competition at the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Consortium held in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood. The team received a second-place award for programming and a second call-back for research presentation in a field of 68 teams involving more than 1,000 area middle school students. The accomplishment is credited to the 10-member team of seventh- and eighth-grade students in Butler Catholic’s elective class for robotics.

Eighth-grade Robo-pens team members are Tyler Protivnak, Tyler VanGrootenbruel, Daniel Cleary, Matthew Patterson, Jordan Camp, Katelynn Kletzli and Emma Preston. Seventh-grade students are Mallory Truax, Anna Swartwout and Nate Morgus. Jayne Chobot, middle school science and robotics teacher, is team coach.

“This is an outstanding team that had some members with previous experience and all with a determination to succeed. All of the students participated in all aspects of the competition,” said Chobot.

Sister John Ann Mulhern, principal, sees the robotics program as an important aspect of the technology program at the school. Each of the four years that Butler Catholic has competed has shown improved development. The “Smart Move” challenge this year required problem-solving skills, creative thinking and teamwork as the Robo-pens pitted their customized robots against other participants’ entries. The team plans to compete in the May Madness competition at Sarah Heinz House in Pittsburgh.

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