Spearfish Robotics Team Triumphs
In the rolling hills of the Black Hills of South Dakota, a group of middle school students in Spearfish have been quietly building something extraordinarynot just robots, but resilience, teamwork, and an unstoppable drive to learn through adversity. The Spearfish Middle School Robotics Team closed out their season with accomplishments that extended far beyond the competition arena, proving that genius comes in many sizesand often arrives riding on four well-coded wheels.
Grit Gears Up
The 2023–2024 season was anything but smooth. From hardware hiccups to software snafus, “challenge” would be the understatement of the year. But that’s the thing about roboticsit thrives in chaos. And so did the Spearfish Middle School team. With guidance from advisors like technology teacher Mike Speidel and mentoring from local volunteers, the students spent months fine-tuning not only their robot but also their understanding of mechanics, electrical engineering, and those ever-finicky logic loops.
“The kids put in a tremendous number of hours troubleshooting problems and rewriting code,” said Speidel. “That level of commitment is rare at this age.” And their hard work didn’t go unnoticed.
The Road to Rapid City
This year’s season started in October with the group preparing for FIRST LEGO League competitions, where students aged 9–14 get to demonstrate innovation, problem-solving, and teamwork through robot design and real-world project presentations. Their journey culminated in December at the state championship in Rapid Citythe finals of a season-long sprint, filled with local scrimmages and pizza-fueled build sessions after school.
Two of Spearfish’s robotics teams made the cut and traveled to the state tournament. Among them was Team RoboSpartans, a group of 6th through 8th graders boasting sharp coding instincts and even sharper comedic timing. “There were frustrationsdon’t get me wrong. But by the end of the season, we had students debugging each others’ code like seasoned pros,” said Speidel.
More Than Code and Cogs
But what makes this story sing isn’t just the trophies or the tournament tensionit’s the reminder of why STEM education matters. In an age where misinformation muddies science and tech’s potential, these kids are living proof that hands-on learning truly sticks. From learning to problem-solve under pressure, to collaborating with peers who see problems from drastically different angles, the lessons this team walked away with aren’t just about robotsthey’re about life.
“I used to think coding was just typing weird stuff into a screen,” said eighth grader Jasmine H. “Now I want to be an engineer.” Simple words, big impact.
Community Forges Creativity
This kind of success doesn’t happen in a vacuum. The robotics program at Spearfish Middle School has become a beacon for tech-forward education in the region, attracting local sponsorships and parent involvement that powers the engine behind it all. When your servo motor won’t initialize at 10 p.m. the night before a qualifier, it helps to have a parent who knows Python.
And there’s mentorship galore. From older high school robotics team graduates returning to lend a hand, to engineers from local tech companies offering feedback on presentation boards, there’s a sense that this program is less “extracurricular” and more “community accelerator.”
What Comes Next?
While the official season may be over, the gears haven’t stopped turning. Plans are already underway for summer workshops and expanded mentorship opportunities. With the STEM pipeline more critical than ever, educators in South Dakota are looking at the Spearfish program as a model for how to start early, inspire often, and never underestimate the wisdom of a 12-year-old with a vision and an ultrasonic sensor.
Here’s what Speidel and his protégés have taught us: in the face of setbacks, tricky tournament challenges, or redesigning your robot for the fifth time in two weeksjust keep building. Because in robotics, as in life, the real victory is never giving up on the problem until it’s solved.
For more on student robotics initiatives in South Dakota and the innovative educators powering them, stay tuned to our education tech column next week.
