Team 7659 in action!
It was wonderful to hear from many of the speakers that it was attending one of our past Business Brunch events that inspired them to pursue a degree in business.
DROP IN CODING
On October 29 and November 5, HNMCS Robotics hosted the annual Drop IN Coding. This year, Drop IN Coding was run in person at the school, making the experience even more valuable. Coding instructors, Simona Grignano ‘26, Bianca Vella ‘26, Zoe Wainas ‘26, and Valentina Magnotta ‘29, taught students in grades 5-9 the fundamental skills of Scratch. The participants practiced creativity and innovation by coding LEGO SPIKE robots. The coding sessions were a tremendous success and many students left with a positive mindset towards coding. Additionally, it was a great introduction to the FIRST LEGO League Tournament which HNMCS Robotics will host on December 17!
Engineering Career Night
On November 3rd we hosted our 6th annual Engineering Career Night with Team 1360, Orbit Robotics where we had Engineers speak to youth about what it is like having a career in engineering.
In the first panel, we had Marwan Essa, Brenda Munyukwi, and Agnesh Nair. They spoke about their passion for their jobs and their experiences in each of their unique and different types of engineering. In the second panel, we were joined by Dr. Samuel Peralta, Sandeep Sugumaran, and Uzair Ahmad. They spoke about their education, unique experiences and projects that they have worked on. Each presenter did an amazing job of educating aspiring engineers and both teams can’t wait to host this event again next year!
Engineering Career Night is a great educational tool to help students understand the different career pathways available within the field of engineering, and HNMCS Robotics is very dedicated to helping high school students plan for university and beyond.
STEM DAY
HNMCS Robotics was passionate about sharing their love for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math through their 6th annual STEM Day. The SS Robotics team had thoughtfully planned out grade appropriate STEM related activities to spark curiosity and engagement. The girls got together in their grade levels or TAP groups to work on a variety of fun activities including making rain clouds, balloon cars, play-doh, oobleck, newspaper tower building, extracting chlorophyll, bath bombs, and egg drops. The girls enriched each activity by creating follow-up discussion questions, activity related games, or fun competitions to foster creativity.
The activities were well received by teachers and students alike with everyone saying it was a fun way to experience STEM through hands-on projects. The Robotics members value collaboration and sharing ideas, one way this took place was with HOSA members to create an activity on extracting chlorophyll from spinach leaves. HNMCS Robotics is excited to continue this annual STEM day tradition in the future!
Business Brunch
On Saturday, November 19th, HNMCS Robotics hosted their 5th annual Business Brunch in collaboration with Orbits Robotics (FRC 1360). This year Business Brunch had guest speakers logged on from Toronto, Kingston ON, and New York City and 30 students coming from various locations across GTA. All of the guest speakers shared the same background as the student attendees, allowing them to provide insightful and honest advice.
The topics discussed ranged from networking, mental health, resilience, struggles, job interviews to high school-university transition. It was wonderful to hear from many of the speakers that it was attending one of our past Business Brunch events that inspired them to pursue a degree in business.
