75 Yukon students took part in the challenge this year.
Yukon students showed off their coding skills at the 11th annual Yukon Robotics Challenge this week.
On Tuesday, 75 students gathered at St. Francis of Assissi Catholic Secondary School to put their robots to the test. Teams built and programmed their own robots to move forwards and backwards, turn left and right, and lift forklift-style arms up and down.
Retired Yukon teacher Glenna Howard has been an organizer of the Yukon Robotics Challenge since it began in 2014. She says that, aside from the educational benefits, robotics gives students a valuable experience.
“This provides them an opportunity – which, often, we don’t have in schools – where you have to present something to a real-life audience for a real-life reason,” says Howard.
“We have teachers who are new who come and say ‘Hey, this is really great! We want to make sure we do it again next year.’ And, usually, we have people who do repeat it, because they found that it does something with their kids.”
The teams put their robots through five tasks with varying levels of success, and then interviewed with engineers to explain what went right, what went wrong, and why.
While robotics isn’t always for everyone, the kids who do like it had a blast. Taryn Frizzell and Charlie Mason, Grade 6 students from Jack Hulland Elementary School, say that the learning process is the best part of the challenge.
“At the start, I didn’t like it, [because] it was so hard,” said Frizzell. “But now, I know how to code and stuff, and it’s really fun!”
“My favourite is probably just learning about robots and how it works and stuff,” said Mason.
The Yukon Robotics Challenge returns in 2026.
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