McEachern Robotics Welcomes All Area Students

engineering teacher Paul Eubanks is getting a head start on preparing his afterschool robotics club for the spring semester’s Peachtree Regional FIRST Robotics Competition.

It won’t be until January when the third-year club will find out what robot it must build for the competition. But in an effort to start getting prepared, Monday will be the first time the club will meet after school in Room 103 of the career tech building, Eubanks said

Eubanks emphasized that the club isn’t just about building the robot, and that anyone is welcome to join. There are students involved in graphic design, marketing, organizing and more, he added. 

“Our program is all about selling lifelong learning, and that appeals to more kids,” he said.

Students or parents interested in the club can contact Eubanks at paul.eubanks@cobbk12.org. Students from surrounding schools are invited to join. Some from and even participate, Eubanks said.

“It’s amazing—some of these little kids really know their stuff,” he said.

Usually the FIRST competition has eight- or nine-member teams, Eubanks said. But last year, with no tryouts and the emphasis not put just on building the robot, McEachern had 63 and “I may 75 or 80 kids this year.”

For the first time this year, McEachern began . The theory was that the 16 students enrolled would move from the class, scheduled as the last period, and go straight to help students in the club.

But Eubanks said it’s “not going as well as I would hope” simply because the club hasn’t fully began yet. Once the club starts, “then we’ll be in business.”

Starting today, the club will likely meet every other Monday, Eubanks said. And then in the spring, students will gather Monday through Thursday and sometimes on Saturdays.