Greetings through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! I pray you all are having a wonderful Advent season as we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior.
During this season of Advent and Christmas celebrations, we here at East Fork Lutheran School have so much to celebrate, including some major school events. This year, many of our youth sports teams are enjoying successes, including the robotics team.
East Fork Lutheran School is in the middle of our robotics season, and the students are continuing the successes of past seasons. Robotics is the newest activity we have been offering our students. We are now in our fourth year, and what started as a small pilot program with six 5th-grade students using hand-me-down equipment has grown into a year-round activity with more than 20 students in 5th-8th grade participating and establishing a level of excellence that is truly God-given through the talents and abilities he has given them. This year we have seven teams comprised of three or four students per team.
Robotics is not easy. This is not battle bots or anything like that. Some STEM schools and private schools build their entire curriculum around robotics! This is truly an educational program that requires hard work, dedication, problem-solving, communication, writing, and critical thinking. We have students that come into it thinking it’s all fun and games, but they quickly realize the amount of work, time, and dedication that goes into it.
East Fork is a smaller school of 116 students, so many students are involved in more than one sport at a time. Naturally, we practice and meet less often than most sports team would. Another unique aspect is that robotics is entirely student driven, meaning we as coaches and parents are prohibited from telling students how to build their robots and what designs to use. We aren’t allowed to touch or handle their robots. The students really have to use their problem-solving skills and communicate with fellow teammates in order to be successful. What a unique sport and what a great opportunity!
Our students have worked hard and stayed dedicated, and by God’s grace they have been successful beyond what we as coaches, teachers, and parents could have ever imagined. East Fork Lutheran School has quickly become the most successful robotics program on our reservation and in our region of the state and also has become one of the most successful programs within the state of Arizona. We have become the first Native American school in Arizona to win the Arizona State Championship event, and from that God has blessed our teams with so many “firsts” for our school.
The students have truly been blessed in the short three and half years of the program’s existence. God has provided opportunities for these students’ success that we never thought would be possible.
This robotics program is more than just “another sport” and has had an impact on more than just the students. The program started as a way for students to get involved beyond a traditional sport but led to a support system of teachers, coaches, and parents reminding these students that God will bless them beyond what they can imagine. What a great reminder that our God is almighty. Robotics gives the students a chance to showcase their abilities using their brains and intelligence, and that too is a blessing from God. We as coaches want them to believe in themselves and the abilities that God has given to the team. Not only has the robotics program brought unique experiences to these students, but it has also allowed for them to proudly proclaim who they are: Christian Apache, no matter where they go!
There have been so many supportive parents and families as well as sponsors and local entities that have helped support our program. The blessings that God has provided are tremendous, and our students truly know what it means to overcome adversity, commit themselves to their challenges, and show their Christian and Apache pride everywhere we go.
God is truly great. All the glory we have goes to him.
Written by Jonathan Brooks, principal at East Fork Lutheran School
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