IN Peters Township October/November 2019 | Page 55

In addition to the high school team, the Titans offer numerous tudents from schools throughout the camps and workshops for students in grades K to 12. The cost Pittsburgh area come together twice a to be on the team is approximately $200 per student. The team week as the Titanium Titans—a high is a student-led, mentorship-based program that enables and school robotics team that brings STEM to encourages students to take ownership and grow as leaders and the masses. thinkers. The main structure is made up of three student project The Titanium Titans began as a rookie managers with various team leads underneath who keep the team team in the FIRST Robotics Competition in running like a well-oiled robot. Students also decide topics for 2013, working out of a mentor’s garage. The founding group of and teach summer camps and various workshops throughout the students and mentors were seeking to build their teamwork and year. During build season, students design, build, and program a technical skills before pursuing further education and joining robot along with all other competition aspects. the workforce, while having fun building robots and the thrill of “One thing that makes the team extraordinary is that we are starting a business at the same time. entirely student led,” says Peters Township sophomore David Since then, the Titanium Titans have expanded to focus on building a sustainable workforce equipped to tackle the problems of the future, while inspiring students to have the greatest positive impact possible on their community. The group includes students from more than 10 surrounding communities of the Pittsburgh area. The group is primarily a high school-level robotics team and accepts applications from students in grades 8 to 12. The team strives to provide STEM-related outreach programming to students of all ages and guidance for community members in forming younger FIRST teams, including FIRST LEGO League. “The Titanium Titans are a great group of people from all walks of life who come together to build something better—a robot, yes, but also the community in general,” says Miguel Moya, an 11th Titans working hard at this year's summer camp. grader at Peters Township High School. “Every year, when our team goes to a competition with nothing but the Bunton. “The mentors are there to help us, teach us and guide robot we built and each other, it’s one of the best experiences us, but at the end of the day it’s the students running the team. of my life. You just can’t find something like FIRST Robotics It’s amazing to be given the chance to prove that even though we anywhere else.” are only teenagers, we are capable and ready to make the world a “Anybody and everybody is welcome and encouraged to join better place.” our robotics team or to find another FIRST Robotics team that The Armory Youth Center in Canonsburg graciously is right for them,” says Tabitha Beck, a senior at Peters Township provides the group with a place to do their work. During the High School. “Many might think that the team is only for those summer and fall, the group meets twice a week on average. The interested in robotics, however in order to sustain the team, we team competes in four to six competitions per year, and always work to raise money and educate the next generation. We also attends the Greater Pittsburgh Regional and an additional out-of- work constantly to bring STEM education to those who either state regional. don’t have access to it or are unaware of how they can contribute their talents to the STEM community.” Continued on next page > PETERS TOWNSHIP ❘ OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2019 53