ABOVE: Xavier McKenzie, Elizabeth Mulder, Sam Grogin, Isaac Stone, Gabriella Thoeny and Katherine Simpson stand with Executive Assistant to Bobby Joe Champion Shemeka Bogan. Four of the students representatives were from Fairmont, while two chimed in from Luverne. Submitted photo.

FAIRMONT – Students in Fairmont High School’s Robotics program got to plead the case for two STEM-related bills at the State Capital on Friday.

Robotics Mentor Aaron Perkins said he has worked in STEM advocacy for five years. During that time, a bill seeking to put easy to use and explain robots into every school in Minnesota caught his attention.

“The XRP bill would allow for a cheap way to get little robots into all classrooms,” Perkins said. “There’s a curriculum and lessons that would go with it to teach basic programming. The goal is for rural Minnesota schools to have a way to teach computer science without that per se expert. Anyone in theory can teach this.”

Through advocacy for this bill, Perkins was reached out to for assistance with advocating for a STEM Ecosystem bill. He said the bill looks to boost education and workforce development.

“The purpose of the bill is to grow STEM literacy and address the STEM learning and workforce opportunity gap,” Perkins said. “The focus would be on a wide range of challenges related to STEM education and workforce development. This includes offering competitive grants for organizations to deliver programs that address these gaps and provide high-quality STEM across Minnesota.”

When the opportunity came to speak at the State Capitol, Perkins said having students there was vital.

“By having the student voice, it does create a different perspective as to why it’s important,” he said. “I can sit there and say it’s important all I want, but it’s the kids that go in and they make a more impactful stance than I ever could.”

The group took a direct approach, going to the offices of every State Senator and Representative they could find. Perkins said the representatives had left Thursday, but materials were left at the offices of 23 State Senators. They were able to secure a meeting with State Senate President Bobby Joe Champion and newest State Senator Doron Clark.

Robotics member and Senior Sam Grogin, one of the four who went, said meeting with the Senators was a great experience.

“Speaking with President Champion was very nice,” he said. “He was very interested in all of us. He made sure we all said how we felt [about] robotics. Even though he knew that we weren’t the government type of people, he’s still interested in the build aspects and us when it comes to engineering.”

Grogin and Junior Robotics member Isaac Stone had never been to the Capital before. Grogin said it was a little harder than he expected to talk to government officials and persuade them. Stone said the experience helped him appreciate those who work regularly with government officials to advance STEM causes.

Perkins said they will continue to meet with the bill authors and advocates and attend Capital events in April and May to flesh out and garner support for the bills. He said the hope is to get the STEM Ecosystem Bill passed this year and the XRP Bill passed in the next two years.

“Hopefully this summer we’ll be able to go to Washington, DC to participate in STEM advocacy,” Perkins said. “We’re also hoping to start one for the state of Minnesota this year. By doing those things, getting the kids exposure to it, then recruiting kids more interested in the political side, hopefully we can expand and get more bills passed in the future.”