The South Jeffco Robotics Club meets once a week, but during the "build period," the students and Mr. Schmidt are there every day and night. Beyond teaching students all sorts of things about engineering and technology, Mr. Schmidt guides them through the process of building a robot. "He puts 100 percent into it, and he really puts his heart into it and makes us feel like we want to learn, as well," says club member Anthony Nguyen. Part of that 100 percent was Mr. Schmidt spent many hours writing a grant for the funds to enter the FIRST Robotics Competition last March. FIRST stands for "For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology." Once they secured the grant from NASA, they had six weeks to plan and build a working robot.

The students loved the challenge of building the best robot. "We were so excited when that thing just took off and smashed into a wall. We were just overjoyed that it worked," Nguyen joked.

Mr. Schmidt's students say their teacher is funny and always teaching them something new. "At the beginning of the year, we called him our father," club member, Alison Friedly said. "He didn't appreciate that too much." But that's the way they feel about someone who has given them guidance and total dedication.

Friedly summed up what Mr. Schmidt means to her future and the future of many of his students. "He has definitely shown me the career paths, the way I could go, how to get to college. How to use engineering in the correct way instead of just taking apart my VCR."

Currently, the Robotics Club is in the process of preparing a presentation to "sell" their ideas and goals to companies. In order to build a new robot for the competition this spring, the kids must gather funds from sponsors.