Special Olympic's 2018 games to include demo of Unified Robotics program stated at Kings' High School

Delaney and Kendall Foster
2016 at King's High School

UNIFIED ROBOTICS DEMO 

2018 USA GAMES

Empowering Every Student Through Robotics

This year, the Special Olympics’ 2018 USA Games will feature a plethora of sports ranging from soccer to stand up paddle board; however, for the first time ever, the games will welcome a new, untraditional sport -- robotics.

Launched in 2015, this “sport for the mind” challenges students with and without intellectual disabilities to work together to design, construct, and program a LEGO Mindstorms robot for competition. 

Often, students with intellectual disabilities are left out of opportunities for hands-on learning in STEM.

Founder of the program and at the time a senior at King’s High School, Delaney Foster saw this first hand and became determined to create an inclusive environment filled with STEM for her sister Kendall, who is on the autism spectrum.

As a part of the program students with intellectual disabilities are not only able to participate in STEM, they are also the leaders, designers, builders and programmers behind the robot.

Since its start at King’s High School, Unified Robotics has expanded to 40 teams that competed in the Unified Robotics Championship held last November. Unified Robotics is well on its way to becoming a nationwide sport as teams have formed in five different states.

Because of the generous support from Microsoft, FIRST Robotics, and Pacific Science Center, Special Olympics Unified Robotics can be brought to schools for little, or no, cost.

The Special Olympics Games will be featuring a Unified Robotics Demo in the Fan Zone Stage in the North Parking Lot within the Husky Stadium from 9:30 to 10:00am on Monday, July 2nd.

Teams from six different schools will compete in a sumo-robot competition that mirrors the November Championship in which robots battle head-to-head to push each other out of the ring.

Be there to cheer on teams from Newport High School, Issaquah High School, King’s High School, Ballard High School, Auburn High School, and Ingraham High School.