Robotics club seeks space at Sunset Recreation Center
Published 1:00 pm Thursday, May 26, 2022
- A former classroom at the Sunset Recreation Center, one of several that could be leased to the Seaside School District as a home for its after-school robotics program.
Seaside’s high school robotics program is looking for a new home, perhaps in the Sunset Recreation Center. Principal Jeff Roberts went to the Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District board of directors last Tuesday for a request to use the former Broadway Middle School room for the extra-curricular program.
“I’ve made a difficult decision to relocate our after-school robotics programs so we have an adequate space that will be used throughout the day for a middle school elective art program,” Roberts said.
Roberts said the visual arts program for middle school grades was long overdue. “But the unintended consequence is the displacement of some of our other programs that serve students.”
The robotics team is an extracurricular activity for students that takes place after school hours, housed in a makerspace room at the middle school, Roberts said.
The robotics team is led by one head coach and two assistant coaches. The team typically has 12 to 15 students actively participating.
Roberts met with park district executive director Skyler Archibald in early May to identify rec center classrooms that could meet the needs of the program. The large classrooms with storage cabinets, access to the cafeteria as a practice area and the central location of the center make the building attractive, Roberts said.
“The reality is we can efficiently relocate tools, robots, those types of things, and so we would be looking for an ongoing lease for this organization,” he said.
The school district seeks a 12-month lease from the park district, with the robotic program busiest between November through April.
“We would be interested in relocating our equipment in July or August to ensure that our art teaching space was available for set up prior to the new school year beginning,” Roberts said.
Archibald said the park district was supportive of the idea. “The board encouraged staff to work to identify an appropriate location and what our expenses would be for preparation and hosting them, and then see if that will work out with their budget.”
