Stephenville Independent School District

In 2011, with significant funding provided by the Stephenville Evening Lions Club, TechnipFMC, Saint Gobain and the Texas Workforce Commission, and mentorship and resources from the Tarleton State University Department of Engineering, we started a robotics program to provide students the opportunity to engage in real-world problem-solving.

Nicknamed "The Metal Jackets," the team has since grown steadily in numbers, competitions, capabilities, accomplishments, and recognition. Henderson Junior High quickly followed suit, creating two teams: seventh-grade CyberSwarm and eighth-grade Hive of Steel. In competitions, teams build robots that they program for autonomous tasks, as well as student-controlled challenges, taking into account planning, design, the team's journey, team outreach to community and schools, and presentation skills.

In the fall of 2015, SHS offered its first engineering course designed to expose students to the growing need for engineers and the possibilities available for students. Over the next 10 years, millions of STEM-based jobs will be outsourced by American companies due to a lack of qualified applicants. We believe our students are more than capable of occupying a role in filling that gap and leading us into the future with innovative solutions to problems known and as yet unknown.