One of the many privileges of being a student at Benicia High School is having the opportunity to enroll in any number of the diverse range of clubs the school has to offer. In recent years, several computer and technology based clubs have made their way onto the list, keeping in pace with the increasing popularity of technical careers and growing number of tech-savvy consumers. I had the opportunity to talk with Maddie Beyer and Victoria Travao, both juniors involved in tech clubs, and gained some insight into what these clubs have to offer.
In search of something to keep her occupied with after school, and with a little encouragement from her teacher, Mr. Andreas Kaiser, Beyer decided to join the Computer Refurbishing Club. The club was established a few years ago by Mr. Kaiser, after the science department was granted new laptops, leading to an influx of old laptops with no place to go. Members of the club are allowed to take the computers home, where they first wipe the drives, then install new software and better operating systems to make them run faster. For people like Beyer, who entered the club with little prior experience dealing with computers, the process is broken down by more experienced members, one of whom even, according to Maddie, “made an instructional manual for the newbies.”
Beyer, who estimates she’s refurbished about 10 laptops so far, now runs the club along with senior Kyle Johnson. The goal of the club is to eventually donate the laptops to students in need, and they found the perfect opportunity to do so during Benicia High’s Hour of Code.
The Hour of Code is a global movement that aspires to encourage students to learn about computer science, and the high school incorporated the event into its schedule by holding themed lunch time activities, such as “Fly a Drone” and “Play with BB-8,” from Dec. 6 to Dec. 8. The Computer Refurbishing Club used this time as an opportunity to hold sign-ups for the new and improved laptops. Those that signed up must then go through an interview process held by members, who will eventually distribute the refurbished laptops to the students in need. While the laptops are completely free, special add-ons, like installing a new battery, are available for a small price.
Also led by Mr. Kaiser, the Robotics Club is another noteworthy example of the in-depth technical clubs available on campus. The club is split into two teams, each with the goal of creating its own robot. The teams are then further split into “builders” and “programmers,” who– like the names suggest– are tasked with either creating the robot or programming it to do certain tasks. Travao, head of one of the teams and a fellow programmer, described the two main methods for programing the robots, either autonomously or with a remote control. With a remote control, which she described as “similar to a video game control,” users can control the robot to complete actions like lifting a cube, throwing an object, or spinning. The autonomous method is a little more involved, requiring programmers to type out a code, including setting timings, onto a program like Google Docs, where the code can then be pasted onto a special format that can be downloaded directly to the robot. While the club usually meets three days a week, members like Travao have stayed after school everyday, fine-tuning their robot and preparing for the upcoming Vex Robotics competition. The competition is being held next Sunday at Google headquarters in Mountain View, where teams will be pitting their robots against one another on a game field, competing for highest score based on assessments of the robots capacity for completing specific actions. The teams with the top three highest scoring robots then get to move on to state competitions, and those winners get to compete internationally. Best of luck to Benicia High’s Robotics Club!
As my own computer skills are limited to creating Powerpoints and downloading files, I was blown away by what students are capable of accomplishing in these clubs. Both Beyer and Travao cited little experience prior to joining their respective clubs, and now they are restoring computers and programming robots! I am impressed with the high school for offering such unique clubs, and I am equally impressed with the commitment, creativity, and talent of the students who join them. I hope more students take the opportunity to explore clubs like these. Whether it be a philanthropic computer revamping organization or a team of expert robotic builders, clubs at Benicia High certainly have a lot to offer!

Jasmine Weis is a senior at Benicia High School

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