DAVIS, Calif. — Students in Davis have a new place to get hands-on experience with robotics after a ribbon cutting for a state-of-the-art facility, Wednesday.
The robotics team started back in 2004 as a group of five students in a math classroom at Davis Senior High School.
After winning many regional competitions and world championships, the team and community support grew and they're known today as the Citrus Circuits.
Now, they have a new Career Technical Education facility featuring robotics workshops, a practice field and more all to encourage students interested in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
The robotics team now consists of 90 high and junior high school students within the Davis Joint Unified School District.
"What we're providing students is an opportunity to get hands-on experience in robotics, learning skills, not just hard skills like programming, design, manufacturing but also soft skills like teamwork, collaboration, problem-solving, and critical thinking," said Michael Corsetto, head coach of the Citrus Circuits. "With those two together, students really get that experience and it's almost like a startup environment for the students."
The new $6 million facility was built with local 'Measure M' funds and a matching Career Technical Education facilities grant from the State of California, providing an instructional space for Citrus Circuits and Davis Senior High School robotics classes.
"We started working outside of a classroom with only five students," said Emily Xia, a senior at Davis Senior High School and team captain of Citrus Circuits. "Over the years, we've really grown so much in size and this new building and all the facilities in here will be such a great resource for all of our students."
The team is going into its 20th season and is one of the most successful robotics teams in the world. They recently placed fifth at the FRC World Championship in Houston.
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