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By: Jonathan Bustos, Victoria Calles, Jose Caso and Maria Vasquez
The Miami Sunset Senior High School Engineering Magnet Program is making a name for itself within the competitive robotics circuit!
The 2021-2022 academic year has been a breakout year for Knights Engineering! With several VEX robotics competitions completed and more scheduled, the Knights are accruing awards and turning heads everywhere they go!
WHAT THEY DO:
At Miami Sunset Senior High School, the Sunset Robotic Knights VEX team is sponsored by Dr. Annie Lastre, the Lead Engineering Magnet Teacher. The team is comprised of 23 amazing magnet students which all contribute their talent to the club. Each team member willingly shares their different skills and ideas in order improve the competition performance. Every single student has the freedom to generate ideas and prototypes.
Some students might have more knowledge or experience than others, but the learning and collaboration occurs at the same rate. Every team member is valued for the talents and skills they bring to the team. As a team students work together to brainstorm ideas and provide input and feedback to help make the Knights a winning team. Meetings are very energetic and fun since they are interactive in nature. Whether students are a board member or a general member of the club all ideas are heard with the same value.
WHERE THE KNIGHTS ROBOTICS TEAM COMPETES:
Tournaments are the main focus of VEX. Students gain a lot of knowledge during these competitions and make connections which are important for future tournaments when making alliances. Students have reflected on failures, learned and upgraded the programming and construction of two competing robots named, “Apollo and Fred.” Since every tournament is an opportunity to learns and apply new skills, the team keeps improving every single time. However, they are already outstanding and recently qualified for the semi-final round and earned the Sportsmanship award at a local tournament.
INTERVIEW WITH CURRENT MIAMI SUNSET VEX ENGINEERING STUDENTS:
What was the first thing you created in robotics?
Maria Vasquez, Public Relations, 10th grade- “The first thing I created in robotics was an electric tiny piano, it was a fun experience.”
What is your honest opinion of working on a team?
Brigitte Cruz 10th grade- “We work in an incredibly positive environment, and everyone gets to put their input.”
What is the most challenging thing about vex?
Sarah Palomino, Team member, 10th grade- “The most challenging thing about vex is learning from scratch and not knowing the basics but luckily I had good teammates to teach me.”
What have you learned and worked on as the president of the club?
Kevin Parra, President, 12th grade- “I learn from vex how to work under pressure as a team and how to manage a team as well, learning from everyone and finding their perfect role.”
INTERESTED IN BECOMING A KNIGHTS ENGINEERING STUDENT?
The Miami Sunset Engineering Program and Knights Robotics Club will provide students with a variety of skills that can be applied to any chosen career. Sunset Robotic Knights is not just about robots. Students will gain a great deal of experience when working in this club. Students will learn to use tools, apply physics principles when designing prototypes, build working robots, learn different programming languages such as block code, Python, and C++. Students will also learn the importance of teamwork and collaboration when working to enhance leadership skills and make lasting friendships.
The Knights Engineering Program is currently accepting magnet applications for the 2022-2023 school year. Visit our school website or contact Ms. Erin Cernuda to learn more and discover the field of Engineering!
