STEM Minute | Super SCREAM Bros team succeeds in robotics competition

DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - Super SCREAM Bros is a group of students who compete in FIRST tech challenges, which are robotics competition for students in grades 7-12. Participants design, build, and program a robot to complete a specific challenge.

SCREAM stands for Super Cool Robotics Engineering And More. The teams work together towards one goal of the project.

"This season there's a submersible with game elements inside of it and your goal is to pick those up and either score them in baskets or pick them up and give them to a human player," said Preston Wikoff, a senior in high school. "You would then score those onto bars to be able to get more points that way, but it's more effort for more points."

Throughout the season, students can improve and change their robot to better achieve the goal and get more points. During this process, the students gain STEM skills.

"You learn a lot of very good skills like I've learned CAD (computer aided design), I've learned communication skills, video editing, and graphic design," said Zachariah Matthews, a senior. "It's given me a really nice, base level knowledge on how to design things which can be used in many different engineering STEM fields."

Many of the upperclassmen in the program say they plan to go into STEM-based careers. They developed confidence in these skills through work they accomplished through Super SCREAM Bros.

"I've developed leadership, professional development, and I'd say how to be a better person, even communication skills, all sorts of things that I can use in my future career," said Elizabeth Cornett. "I am hoping to attend the University of North Dakota where I can study biomedical engineering."

Super SCREAM bros won the 1st place inspire award at the qualifier round and competed in the state competition. They scored high enough at that competition to represent Illinois in the world competition in Houston, Texas.