Robotics team excels in youth development |

Newell Barney College Prep coach John Poirier and his “Robo-Bucs” robotics team are ranked in the top 2% of those who competed in the VEX Robotics World Championship.

Poirier and his club have qualified for world championships annually since 2019. Poirier runs the Queen Creek Robotics Foundation, and its team “Geared Up” who are all comprised of past NBCP robotics students. The team received multiple awards from the Vex Robotics State Championship and qualified for the world championship.

Poirier is a principal architect and information security lead at CVS Health and has nearly eight years of experience coaching the NBCP’s robotics club. He has spent his time there coaching the basics of robotics.

“I teach them the ways of the robot,” Poirier said.

“It’s been successful. When we started, we weren’t really sure what we were doing … I developed it into a program where the kids can come in and not know anything, and I’ve broken it into, I’ll say, departments or bite-sized chunks for the kids.

“My perfect team size is a four-person team. And it’s typically a captain and or driver. But then I’ve got a person or two that’ll partner on doing an engineering notebook. And that’s the documentation and the pictures and the processes and the things that the kids are going through. … And then there’s the kids that build (the robot).”

Poirier said that coding is another part of the process and that a coder “is responsible for making the robot do everything they want it to.”

“I spent a majority of my time teaching kids how to code in C++, which is a pretty advanced programming language for a seventh grader. But I give them some theories and some practical applications and then let them go from there,” Poirier said.

Poirier said that his teams strive for more.

“It’s my goal, every single time I step into that room I tell the kids ‘Hey, here’s the world map. We’re going to Dallas. Who’s taking me? Somebody’s taking me to Dallas because you guys are going to qualify for the World Championship.’ … It just clicked for them (the Robo-Bucs). They came together as a team. It was absolutely amazing to watch.”

A Robo-Bucs member, Caden Jensen built the robot.

“I would build, (and) I would re-create the robot. I would try to figure out what was wrong – fix it during the competition. And usually, when stuff breaks down, I’d be right there with a screwdriver on me,” Jensen said.

Jensen said that the team worked well together, and he was excited about its high-ranking position. He said he would be interested in joining Poirier’s QCRF and would like to pursue a career in robotics.

“In the upcoming years, I’m going to plan to keep doing robotics – maybe in the future build a career off of it. And I think it’s just a really good thing for me to begin now rather than later because it would really help me intellectually in the future when it comes to getting a job,” Jensen said.

With the success of Poirier’s robotics club, he wanted those in his past teams to stick together. As a result, he created the QCRF which offers youth more robotics activities.

“One of the things I saw an absolute need for, in the Queen Creek area specifically, is once the kids leave my program … there was no way for them to get together if they so choose. … So, I wound up starting Queen Creek Robotics Foundation,” Poirier said.

“That was designed to bring the kids together at the high school level.”

Abrianna Stone is the Geared Up team’s robot builder, notetaker and 3D modeler with computer-aided design software. Poirier said he has been teaching Stone robotics since she was in the sixth grade or five years. Stone said she has known the members of Geared Up for just as long, and that she learned much from Poirier’s teachings.

“If it wasn’t for him, I would’ve never really known the basics or anything. And now I know more, and I continue to learn from him,” Stone said.

“I started off at the Newell Barney College Prep and then ever since then I’ve still just continued doing robotics … I’ve always known that I’ve always wanted to do this,” Stone said.

“I really do want to (continue to) get into robotics. I want to build robots that go into space and all that, and hopefully work for a big company and go to a good university.”

Poirier said her role in Geared Up was essential.

“Everything I do with the building, I report into the notebook and I document everything. And then with CAD, I create a robot online and then I essentially build it,” Stone said.

Regarding her teammates, Stone said the long-term relationship “allows for really good communication because that’s like a important part of having a team — to be able to communicate with each other on what needs to be done.”

Going forward, Poirier wants to raise funds and brow the school club and QCRF. This year, he will take his current QCRF team to signature events to compete.

NBCP also has a robot-building class that Poirier wants to “grow competitively.” Ultimately, Poirier said it’s a joy to watch his students’ talents grow.

“I’ll go to the high school graduations and watch them walk across the stage and just marvel at where they’re at. I’ve got kids at Purdue (University) now that are part of the aerospace engineering program. … (And kids) working with NASA to launch projects into outer space. Just an unbelievable set of kids,” Poirier said.