Hutto ISD robotics competition showcases student STEM talent

Hutto ISD robotics contest at Hutto MS

Hutto ISD students built robots and competed against one another at this year's robotics competition.

HUTTO, Texas - Hutto takes a lot of pride in their Hippos, and their robotics team. About 50 teams competed in the first competition of 2024 on Saturday morning.

Robotics teams from across Hutto ISD revved up for the VEX competition on Saturday morning.

As elementary and middle school students competed in the state qualifying match, their classmates and their parents filled the Hutto Middle School gym, cheering them on.

"I was a little nervous because there were a lot of people. But I've been doing robotics in sixth grade, and I'm used to at this point," said Hutto Middle School student Diego Hernandez.

Students have been working on their robots since September.

They had to design and build a robot that could pick up 3D shapes and dump them into scoring towers.

"We learned about, like, gear ratios, engineering, like how to make everything more structurally sound," said Hutto Middle School student Matthew Watson. "I know people that weren't necessarily on the team, but in the robotics class they were learning about, like, AutoCAD. And they were, they had to recreate a historical landmark."

Hutto couple to host 'Kidpreneur Market'

A Hutto couple who own a local food truck are encouraging aspiring entrepreneurs to get a jumpstart on launching their business. They're hosting a "Kidpreneur Market" next week that will feature young businesspeople.

Robotics has grown in the past couple of years at the Hippo capitol.

"Our high school is actually the five-time state championship winners in robotics. And then over the years, we've developed a district wide robotics initiative for STEM education," said Hutto ISD Robotics coordinator Rebecca Bales. "We have robotics teams, competitive robotics teams on every campus, elementary, middle school and high school."

Hutto ISD superintendent Dr. Raúl Peña stopped by the competition, excited to see the fruits of the students' hard work.

"It's not like they're putting together blocks or Legos. It's really understanding math, science, and bringing it together to create codes, and for the robots to complete the task," Dr. Peña said. "I think it's just a very enriching part of our curriculum. I'm just proud to be a part of that and making sure that our students have access to value-added opportunities here."