While the remote learning time during the COVID pandemic was challenging for many students, Ashlyn Duran used it to learn more about a subject that fascinated her.
In sixth grade at Twin Peaks Middle School in Poway, Duran rounded up a few friends and organized a mini-robotics competition. She had some experience with computer programming but was eager to learn more through the field of robotics.
The competition left her even more intrigued by the field, so as a freshman at Poway High School she joined the robotics team, Team Spyder.
Last month, Duran, now a junior, was one of four finalists in the Southern California division of the FIRST robotics organization — and the third Poway High student in the team’s 22-year history to win the state championship FIRST Leadership Award, said Todd Parr, Poway High teacher and Team Spyder assistant coach.
Duran, 17, whose “ultimate goal” is to be a computer scientist at NASA, said it was an honor to have her work recognized, “and very motivating for me.”
“I want to continue to do more in the future and live up to the ideals of leadership,” she said. “I’m sure I will come back as a mentor or volunteer when I am in college.”
Leading up to this award, Parr said that Duran won a leadership award in the San Diego division, which qualified her to interview for the regional Southern California state championship.
When she went into the final interview, Duran said she was “very nervous” at first but felt more comfortable as the interview panel asked her questions about her involvement with the team and the community.
“I felt very confident answering the questions because I’ve done that — I’ve lived that,” she said.
After the interview, Duran said she still didn’t expect to win the award. She was “shocked” when she won in the San Diego competition and again in the final Southern California competition.
Duran said she got lost on the way to the Anaheim Convention Center stage to accept her award after her name was announced. She and her family were seated far back in the balcony section of the auditorium.
“One of the event volunteers had to show me where to go,” she said.
Parr said that Team Spyder members regularly mentor younger students across schools in Poway Unified, providing them with hands-on robotics opportunities.
For the last two years, Duran also spent one week helping student robotics teams in Paraguay and Ecuador with tech support and coding. Using her experience with and fluency in Java, a programming language, she helped code various team’s robots so they could perform on the competition field.
The FIRST Leadership Award is earned by students on a robotics team who are great leaders and have led their teams and communities to increased awareness of inclusion, professionalism and entrepreneurship within the robotics organization, competition organizers say.
Duran says she enjoys being on the robotics team.
“The experience is relevant to how it would be in a professional workspace,” she said.
Team Spyder has key groups of students that work together on a robot every year — the mechanical team, electrical team, business team and programming team, she said.
Duran, who leads the programming team, programs the robots using Java, which she learned in her high school coursework and participation with the robotics team.
This year’s robot picked up 6-inch foam balls called fuel from a neutral zone area in the field and scored them into a hopper-style goal in the team zone that was about 5 feet high.
Being on the team has taught her the importance of communicating effectively with others and setting intermediate goals throughout projects to achieve success, she said.
Parr, who has been an assistant coach with the team for 20 years, says he tries to help students develop their leadership skills by being encouraging, offering advice, and providing direction, but he also tries to step back and let students learn and figure things out on their own.
The team has learned to adapt to many different situations when working together to build the robot and it has been a great experience, Duran said.
Poway High Principal Jonathan Penuliar said that in addition to Duran’s accomplishments in robotics, she is involved in a number of campus organizations, including the California Scholarship Federation, National Honor Society, Science Olympiad and Key Club.
“She consistently demonstrates exceptional leadership, dedication, and a genuine commitment to her school community,” Penuliar said.
This summer, Duran will work as a camp counselor at the San Diego Air and Space Museum in Balboa Park. She says the position is not as technical as her position programming with the robotics team, but she is happy she will be “helping out kids.”
She also looks forward to her senior year on Team Spyder, she said.
