A key issue facing Appalachia today is the gap in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education between this region, especially its more rural counties, and the rest of the country. Because of its commitment to serving Appalachia and helping it to thrive, Berea College is working to close this gap. One of the ways Berea is encouraging STEM education in the region is by cultivating the engineering talents of Appalachian youth through competitive robotics.

This program was created by FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a global non-profit that equips young people to excel in STEM. The FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) brings together teams of high school students who must work together to build and program robots and compete against other teams’ creations. Participating in this competition gives STEM-minded young people a taste of real-world engineering.

Berea’s FIRST Robotics team, going by the name of “Rat Fight,” was founded in 2021 by David ’26 in his first year at Berea. “Paying no tuition was huge for me,” he said. “I wanted to give back to Berea College. I wanted a way to give back to the local community as well.” As a computer science major with an interest in robotics, leading a FIRST Robotics team for Berea was the perfect way to do that. “Bringing Berea College and local students into the national and state FIRST communities is one of the things that I find really valuable in this team.”

What started out as purely volunteer work has now become David’s labor position—a job he takes very seriously as he works to instill a love of robotics in the local high school students who make up the team. “Having college students run a team is unheard-of,” David said. “It’s really only possible because Berea is in a unique situation where we have these labor positions.” Berea assigns two labor positions to oversee the team, one held by David and another by Dylan ’27, who will be taking over leadership of the team when David graduates. And in addition to David and Dylan, there are other Berea students who volunteer their time and expertise to help the team excel. The team also has corporate sponsors like Novelis, which provides vital resources and support. “Novelis is our main corporate sponsor,” said David. “They give us funding and some tech expertise as well.”

Berea’s FRC team has had a deep impact on the local high school students who’ve participated. In addition to providing engineering experience and a chance to learn robotics, the team has helped some students completely turn their lives around. For Dylan, seeing the positive influence that this program can have on the students he helps to mentor is one of the most important aspects of coaching the team. “I like to see others being impacted by such a powerful program like this. That’s my main goal,” he said.

Berea’s sponsorship of Team Rat Fight is going a long way to help local high schoolers discover a love of engineering. “The focus isn’t building the robot, it’s building the student,” said Dylan. Through participating in the FRC, these students gain valuable skills for their future. “We’re giving them an opportunity to gain skills for employment later on in life,” said David. By helping these students explore the field of robotics, Berea is investing in Appalachia’s technological future.