Stratford District Youth Council: Fun event to teach youth about robotics

The Stratford District Youth Council. Photo / Ilona Hanne.

They normally encourage people to "get on the bus" but this time they want people off the bus and into robotics.

Stratford District Youth Council have organised the Get Off The Bus: Robots event in place of the usual "on the bus" event.

Co-chairperson Connor Giblin, 20, says the event is a great way to have fun at an affordable price.

"The name is a way to encourage young people to stay in the district for activities rather than to leave. It's also about supporting local businesses."

Participants will spend the day learning about, and having a go at building robots before watching Big Hero Six at the Stratford Kings Theatre TET, says Connor.

"This year they have been a lot of disruptions to day to day living with the Covid-19 lockdown. It's great to support local and also offer youth the opportunity to enjoy the district."

Stratford District Council community development officer Peter Boyd says a group called Nakibots will be at the event, helping the participants to build robots using a Vex Robotics system.

"We wanted to try something different with an activity relating to the movie so we chose robotics. We're thankful the NakiBots are helping us teach the youth. It will be interesting for them to learn how to build a robot and the mechanics behind it."

Aaron Pollard of Nakibots says robotics is a way to teach children STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).

He says the participants will build a robot using the starter kits and then play games with them.

"Each year a game is set globally and the goal is to get the most points. On the day the kids will build a robot and try and get a large amount of points. After the game, they can work to improve their robot and get a higher score."

The Nakibots is a club where members learn about robotics, says Aaron.

"At the moment there aren't enough members to hold regular meetings. Nakibots was started by a group of parents for their kids. The kids are now in high school and have the equipment at their schools. For competitions they still compete under the Nakibots name."

He says the event will be exciting.

"The Nakibots kids will be teaching the participants, while the adults will monitor.

"It's youth teaching youth skills. It's empowering for both sides."

Peter says for the event, spaces are limited.

"We have a limit of 20 for the robots session but the movie we have a limit of 100 people."

■ Get Off The Bus: Robots event September 13 starting at 10am. Spaces are limited for the robotics session. The cost is $10 for the robotics session and movie. Individual movie tickets through the Youth Council are $5.