Looking for Quality High School Robotics Experiences

[curt_bixel]

It seems that there are a lot of exceptionally high quality high school robotics programs out there.  The things the best programs seem to have in common are"

1.   The kids are exceptionally invested in what they are doing, and they are passionate about it.
2.   The kids work in multi aged groups, with students returning year after year, passing their knowledge on to younger students.
3.   The work is project based.
4.   There are a lot of actual real problems the kids are working on, so there is a lot of problem solving.
5.   Lots of engineering and science is being learned.
6.   The activities the kids are involved in day to day are in service to a larger project and goal. 
7.   What the kids are learning depends upon the project and goal.
8.   There is nothing about it that seems contrived.

I have also noticed that often these types of experiences, which we all know are truly excellent education, happen outside of the actual school day. 
I am wondering if anyone knows of a school that has solved this problem and offers such a robotics experience during the actual school day. 
After looking around a bit, it seems that most of what goes on during the day is structured to the point that it does not permit a lot of the items listed above.  It seem especially hard to find a system where students can return and mix with other newer robotics students. 
I would love to hear about some places where such a program might be thriving!

[Selroth]

Well, the whole debate of what to include in our schools is a huge one.  But, from what I've seen, a lot of the higher-quality schools do still fit what you seem to be looking for. 

Have you looked into what events and such FIRST Robotics is doing in your area?  I don't know for sure, but I imagine many of the robots I'm seeing entered in the competitions are designed/built during school hours.  https://www.firstinspires.org/

There are many other STEM-related (and thus robotics-related) programs all over the world!  Some are more local, some are international.  But, you generally find out about the others in your area by going to one of them first.

Another thing you can look for are makerspace, sometimes called "hackerspaces".  In fact, there's a good map of known makerspaces on https://wiki.hackerspaces.org/List_of_Hacker_Spaces .  Be sure to look at the actual list too, because there's literally too many hackerspaces to be pinned on the map!  Chances are good you'll find one nearby, and that's an EXCELLENT source of information!