Robotics Team at Hitchcock ISD’s Crosby Middle School receives generous donation from former student

On Wednesday, January, 12, 2023, Hitchcock ISD accepted a generous donation from a former student for the Robotics Team at Crosby Middle School.

After seeing a piece about the first-ever robotics team in Hitchcock ISD, George Gillespie, who attended Hitchcock ISD back in the 60’s, traveled to the district administration office to hand-deliver a donation of $3,000 for the team.

“We’re incredibly thankful to Mr. Gillespie for providing us with a multitude of options and opportunities with the money he so graciously donated to our students,” said Megan Stall, RoboDogs coach.

It has not been decided what the donation will go towards, though many ideas are being passed around, with supplies, next year start up costs, lego league costs and summer robotics camp for the students all being options.

The RoboDogs, in their first year, established a 12-member team and competed in their first-ever competition in November 2022, placing third out of 11 teams. The team will compete in their second competition Saturday, Jan. 14, 2023 followed by two competitions in February.

The team is divided into 4 groups: Programming, Building, Coding, and Marketing. The programming group designs code telling the robot what to do, the building group is building the robot itself, including 3-D printing parts for the robot, the coding group implements the actual code sending signals to their robot to perform specific tasks and the marketing group is in charge of securing sponsors and merchandise for the team.

Participation is currently open to seventh and eighth graders, though coaches Stall and Lacy Williams are looking to expand the team to allow sixth graders to join next year.

“It means a lot to our district and community to have this kind of support for our students and their endeavors,” said Superintendent Travis Edwards. “We’re very grateful for Mr. Gillespie’s donation, especially with it supporting such a new program at Hitchcock ISD. With continued support like this, the possibilities for this district and our students are endless.”

For more information about the RoboDogs and how to get involved with Robotics in Hitchcock ISD, contact Megan Stall at mstall@hitchcockisd.org or Lacy Williams at lwilliams@hitchcockisd.org.

Robotics Team at Hitchcock ISD’s Crosby Middle School receives generous donation from former student.pdf