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Photo by Sarah Owens
Antonio Denmark draws the robot in the team’s engineer notebook.
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Photo by Sarah Owens
Antonio Denmark draws the robot in the team’s engineer notebook.
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Photo by Sarah Owens
Addison Croom, middle, looks at a piece of the robot as they put it together. Volunteer Coach Charlie Leightner is to her left, and Orion Satterfield is on the right.
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Photo by Sarah Owens
Addison Hardee, the program creator, helps Orion Satterfield, left, and Addison Croom work on their robot.
Addison Hardee, a senior at Mountain Brook High School, is making waves in the world of robotics and community service by introducing robotics education to Birmingham students.
Hardee’s robotics journey began in third grade, and she competed until eighth grade before running into scheduling conflicts.
“I loved robotics growing up,” she said. “There was always something for someone to do, whether it was the coding aspect or building, designing or I always loved the engineering notebook, which was documenting everything that was done and basically showing how we got from the beginnings of a robot all the way to competition.”
She had notable success in competitions, including being part of a team that qualified for the VEX Robotics World Championship three years in a row. Her team placed sixth in their division and received the energy award one year.
Hardee’s involvement with Girl Scouts led her to expand beyond competition and into education. “I had gone all the way up until I got my Silver Award, and I realized that I needed to start thinking about my Gold Award,” she said. “I knew robotics was something big in my life that I thought I could focus on.”
The idea for her Gold Award project emerged from a 2019 meeting with Sylvia Acevedo, then the CEO of the Girl Scouts, during the VEX competition. Acevedo gave Hardee a Girl Scout STEM badge and encouraged her to continue pursuing her interests in STEM.
Hardee initially aimed to bring robotics to Birmingham City Schools, but she faced bureaucratic hurdles. Instead, she pivoted to the YMCA Youth Center on 7th Avenue North, where she found a receptive partner.
“We found the YMCA Youth Center downtown and realized that they get all of these Birmingham City School students after school each day, and I could do my program there without having to go through those hurdles,” she said.
The YMCA’s youth development director, Kawanna Brickler, welcomed the initiative with enthusiasm.
Hardee’s project kicked off in July 2023 with a summer camp involving 30 students, and it continued into the school year.
“We got 13 students during the school year who were excited to compete, and we had three teams that year, and they did really well,” Hardee said. This summer, the camp expanded to 50 students.
This school year, the program is moving into the competition season with 15 students.
“We're going to talk them through the challenge, which is what their robot is supposed to do. That changes each year, and they have to adapt and build their robot based on the challenge,” Hardee said. “So we're going to spend a while talking to them about what the challenge is, and going over what kind of robot they need to meet that challenge. After they build their robot, usually in November, December and early January, we have competitions with them.”
While the kids enjoy learning about robots, Hardee said the benefits extend beyond technical skills.
“It's having to communicate with people who's going to do what task,” she said. “The delegating is very important. It teaches them a lot about what they can do and how they can work with others to make the best of what they have, and it's just a lot of cooperation.”
As Hardee prepares for graduation and a career in computer science, the YMCA robotics program will continue, remaining student-led, she said, with volunteers from MBHS and Mountain Brook Junior High taking the lead.
