If you’ve been to a robotics competition, you’ve seen and felt the buzz of ingenuity and camaraderie that all participants share. But each team follows its own path to get to the competition floor. For Center Point-Urbana (CPU) Schools, a chance encounter started a robotics journey that continues today.

A program with deep roots

In 2012, Paulette Avis, a CPU parent, started the CPU Schools robotics program with Team 6189 High Voltage at the urging of her daughter, Elizabeth Alderin. Alderin had won a robot in a drawing at a University of Iowa (UI) STEM festival. When Rebecca Whitaker, now FIRST Tech Challenge program delivery partner at the UI College of Engineering, delivered the robot to Alderin at her school, Alderin says Whitaker convinced her mom to start a robotics program. 

"I think we may have hosted a SuGO (Sumo LEGO) competition or something between then and next season, but really it purely started out of a mom's love for her daughter, who knew nothing about STEM but thought she might one day want to be an engineer," says Alderin. 

By 2017, there was so much interest in CPU robotics that they formed a second team. Paulette Avis died in late 2023, but the spirit with which she started CPU robotics continues to thrive. In 2025, CPU decided to start two additional teams to address the high number of middle school students that have joined.

Alderin says watching the program grow has been rewarding for her and her siblings.

“It is cool to see how the program has absolutely exploded at CPU,” says Elizabeth. “With my mom passing, I wasn't sure how much would keep going on, but it’s really special to my siblings and me to know that one of the coolest and craziest things she dedicated herself to is continuing to impact the community in this way.”

The latest expansion has provided more hands-on opportunities for rookie students, which this season included 13 seventh graders, as they design and build their own robots and learn from the older students. This season, both rookie teams qualified to advance to the Iowa Championship—the only middle school teams in their league to do so. 

A spot for everyone

Now with four teams of between six and nine students each, as well as three volunteer coaches and around a dozen mentors, the program thrives. CPU Robotics Coach Kelley Kirtz has a simple answer for the program’s strength and popularity.

“There's a spot for everyone, and our program is open to all students,” says Kirtz. “Being part of a small rural community, we encourage our students to be active in other activities as well. Our students are not just active in robotics, they are active in athletics, band, choir, drama, and FFA, and those experiences enrich their robotics teams as well.” 

Asked where robotics fits into the larger world of STEM programming for students, Kirtz points to the peer interaction and rich blend of STEM topics.

“Robotics gives K–12 students a rare combination of hands‑on experimentation, real engineering, and immediate feedback,” says Kirtz. “Students don’t just hear concepts—they build, test, break, and improve them. This cycle of trying, failing, and iterating builds durable understanding across math, physics, programming, and design. Because robotics blends so many STEM fields, students naturally explore new ideas each season and stretch their abilities as the challenges evolve.”

Beyond the field of play

A core part of the CPU Robotics identity has been their community outreach, or, as they like to put it: “Making STEM loud.” 

Each year, students bring STEM to the community through winter and summer library events for young kids and a custom three‑day summer camp for middle-school students. Teams also attend the Southeast Iowa STEM Region and Collins Aerospace Community STEM Day each summer to demonstrate engineering in action. They also have partnered with NASA for a week‑long robotics booth at the EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) AirVenture Airshow, reaching thousands of families from across the country and around the world.

These events help students grow their own technical and communication skills while inspiring the next generation of builders and problem solvers, says Kirtz.

“These experiences teach them how to communicate their mission, understand budgets, and present their work to professionals—skills that mirror what real engineers do when pitching projects or seeking support,” says Kirtz.

Through their outreach and community presence, CPU Robotics students also have built meaningful partnerships with local businesses and national organizations, including a collaboration with Google, which helped revitalize their summer camp technology and enable an even richer STEM experience for the campers.

Continuing the legacy

While seasons end and students graduate and move on, the CPU robotics program maintains continuity through a commitment to passing valuable lessons along to the next program leaders.

“We value mentorship among the students, with teams sharing not just material and space, but design learnings and the methods we use for working together,” says Kirtz. “Robots and the game change each year, but our foundations get a lot of reuse and keep improving with each season as the younger members experience both successes and shortfalls that they can improve upon.”

2025-2026 CPU robotics season in review

Pompeii League Championship:

• 6189 High Voltage—Winning Alliance, Reach Award 1st Place
• 13415 Electric Storm—Inspire Award 1st Place, the top award in FTC that honors the most well-rounded team excelling in both technical (robot design) and non-technical (outreach, engineering portfolio) categories, exemplifying Gracious Professionalism®
• All four CPU teams qualified to move on to the Iowa Championship
• 31014 Lightning Black and 31015 Lightning Gold the only middle school teams in CPU’s league to make the playoffs and advance to state

Iowa Championship:

• 6189 High Voltage advanced to the playoffs and won the Reach Award 1st Place
• 13415 won the Design Award 1st Place
• 6189 High Voltage qualified to move on to the Michiana Premier Event, June 18-21, in South Bend, Indiana—the first time that a CPU team has qualified to attend an out-of-state competition