Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/2866
Robotics teacher inspires S he will show you the letters of appreciation, but only if you insist. Bay Area high school math teacher and cham- pion robotics team mentor Helen Arrington is humble that way. The letters come from the dean of admissions at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology (MIT) in C ambridge, Mass., where two past presidents of Arrington’s award-winning ro- botics team at Leland High School in San Jose were accepted and are now enrolled. Former Leland stu- dents Alejandro Arambula and Amy Qian were asked by MIT to name a teacher who was “espe- cially influential” in their academ- ic de velopment — a nd t hey named Arrington. MIT congratulated her in the letters, saying, “We thank you for the time, patience, expertise, love, discipline, and all the other quali- ties which have had such an im- portant impact on your students. You do the work from which all of society benefits.” That remarkable work involves inspiring hundreds of Arrington’s diverse students over the years in science, engineering, mathemat- ics, computer science and public speaking — key skills needed to excel in the wired world of com- petitive high school robotics. She points to others, like Le- land debate coach and colleague Gay Brasher, as well as dedicated parents and donors who help out, as the reason for the team’s success — but they point back at her. Since 2002, Arrington has vol- unteered to mentor L eland’s award-winning “Team Quixilver 604,” a name that’s a tip of the hat to the mercury (or quicksilver) mines that operated long ago near this high-achieving school in the San Jose Unified School District. Arrington does this work on her own time — in addition to teaching her five math classes — and after 35 years in the teaching profession, the last decade at Le- land. She is also on the executive board of the San Jose Teachers As- sociation (SJTA), where she re- cently led an SJTA holiday food drive, and is an alternate delegate to CTA’s State Council. “These are my heroes,” Ar- rington said one day recently, as the team of about 50 students met to brainstorm during a l unch break in a Leland classroom. “The most rewarding part of this is hav- ing them all work together. You go out into society and you need to work together to communicate.” Student Natalie Mukhtar, 17, the current president of the team, said Arrington is a definite inspi- ration. “She does this without get- ting paid. She does this for the good of all these students who want to be involved in robotics and want to learn about technol- ogy and be engineers later in life.” Mukhtar hopes to attend San Jose State or Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and to become a mechan- ical engineer. She said, at times, half the Leland robotics team has been girls who love science and technology. Team Vice President Eugene Fang, 16, said Arrington is fully committed to the club. “She spends time after school, on weekends, during the summer and during winter break, just being with us Above: Leland High School math teacher Helen Arrington is shown with awards she and her students have collected over the years for her robotics program. Left: Team Quixilver 604 rejoices over a win at a competition in Atlanta last spring. 22 California Educator | december 2008 • january 2009 Photo by Peter Fang CTA photo by Mike Myslinski