ENGINEERING SUCCESS

Woodrow Wilson robotics is more than just coding and construction

Story

WILL MADDOX | Photos by DANNY FULGENCIO

It’s Saturday at 9 a.m., and while most high school students are enjoying a lazy morning, dozens more are clamoring to get back into the classroom. They aren’t studying for a standardized test or listening to a lecture; they are preparing for an international competition where teams of students write computer code, operate power tools, build electrical circuits, create a business model and document their progress.

Sherrina Hoffnagle, a senior who joined Woodrow Wilson High School’s robotics team this year, is among them. Not only is she a member of the school’s first female robotics team, but she also is one of the first hearing-impaired students to participate. Being on the team has changed the way she sees school and her future.