It’s a big weekend for Fort Worth’s high school girl group Dorkside.
“The name came up six years ago when we started the team and we were trying to decide if we wanted a Star Wars theme or a Harry Potter theme. said.
Giesecke is 17 years old and a senior at the Young Women’s Leadership Academy at Fort Worth ISD. She joined the robotics team in middle school and is leading her 9th grade through her 12th grade hopes of winning the state title at Belton this weekend.
Dork Side is the only all-girls team among the 72 teams vying for the UIL state championship. A regional win in February allowed them to win state and win their first robotics championship for a chance at the world title next month. They left Fort Worth on Thursday for a three-day competition.
“We are ready to rock. We are ready to move. I have a lot of confidence in them. I hope you are,” said middle school engineering student Marsha Bean, a teacher who helps coach the team.
The team spent months building and programming industrial-sized robots to play field games against competitors. They have learned and developed skills in software, hardware and power tools. Teamwork, communication and problem-solving skills were also honed.
For Giesecke, there were lessons in project management and leadership.
“My goal as team captain is to make sure they learn and grow through this experience,” she said.
“It’s just brag about how much work they’ve done this year. At the beginning of the season, we were learning how to email professionally, and now we’re doing interviews with NBC 5. I am presenting to Lockheed Martin.”
All members of the team have career goals in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, or STEM.
Dominque Sennet’s target is the UX designer or front-end developer.
“We focus on how humans use technology and how we can improve it in the future, and improve it for everyone so that we can easily transition as we develop new technologies. I will,” she said.
“Actually, I’d rather be an entertainment engineer who builds roller coasters and aerospace engineering,” says Gabriela Mieres.
For the two teachers who lead Dork Side, pride in their students is evident.
“The beauty of it is seeing the girls improve. They take every thought, thought process, everything they learn in class and put it into action. It improves them so much. Just , just watching them learn and grow,” Bean said.
“This is the first school where I actually became a robotics teacher and I fell in love with it. Now they will have to kick me out of this school. Kicking and screaming ‘” smiled Sergio Flores, an engineering and robotics teacher.
Flores and Bean joined Belton’s Dork Side with their students’ families to cheer on the 10 girls, putting all their hard work and skill into the biggest test of the year.
