Barbara Lawlor, Nederland.  The one thing every parent or teacher wants to see in their students is a sense of pride in their work. The open smile of accomplishment acknowledged…the quiet confidence of an assignment finished to the best of one's ability…the knowledge of trying and succeeding.

Sometimes the road to achievement is as simple as having the right tools to accompany the desire.

Last week, at Nederland Middle Senior High School, those tools and the man who donated them were spotlighted for the community to see and understand, to appreciate what the high tech gifts mean to the kids who use them.

David Shortridge and his son Michael hosted an open house at the NMSHS, with refreshments and student presentations, highlighting the gifts which included woodworking machines for a newly resurrected program, a 3-D printer that makes tangible plaques and medals, and the necessary components for the Robotics Club to build and enter their robots in competition.

Student Hiatt Franck worked the 3-D printer, creating a plaque to present to the Shortridges, with the Shortridge Family Foundation insignia. "This is a really cool piece of technology," he said. Hiatt plans to go to college and study engineering, physics, and math.

Shortidge said, "When these students leave here, they will all have this knowledge in their heads. Girls won't have to ask guys to do wood or mechanical stuff for them."

Shortridge told the crew in the woodworking shop that there was an open-ended commitment to them, that whenever they needed something to help accomplish their goals, he wanted to assist them. He added that there was $1,250 work of equipment on the way. "I am really happy we did this."

Woodworking teacher Mark Savignano and volunteer Bill Allen have utilized the Shortridge Family Foundation gifts to teach students to make gorgeous multi-wood cutting boards and three-legged stools and puzzles that are precise and professional looking.

The Robotics Team met in the hall with their creative brain child, a huge blue-ball-tossing piece of machinery, skillfully wrought and tenderly cared for. The 1584 Pirate team enters the annual high school competition. In January, the team receives the challenge specifics to ponder and begin the machinations of creation.

Each team has six weeks to work on their robot. The Nederland team has the equipment to manufacture their own gears and pieces. Last year's beauty was named Queen Anne's Revenge, after the pirate ship. She scored 15 to make the qualifying round in regional competition. In 2010 the NHS robot made it to the national.

Once the robot has competed, it sticks around for demos and will eventually be cannibalized for parts for new robots.

Co-captain of the team Jake Gerecht said he learned many diverse skills while working on the robot including locomotion, controlling the four motors that move each wheel, electronics, the green eye camera that sees what the robot sees, and the wiring involved in making the metal frame and programming the critter to do what it is told.

Gerecht figures that with six people working about 30 hours a week for six weeks, the robot is worth around $15,000 – if someone needs to have some large blue balls thrown around the house for a while.

Joseph Finkiewicz, a 2009 NHS graduate and an aerospace systems engineering student at Metropolitan State University of Denver, mentors the Robotics Club. He tells people that much of his engineering experience came from his time with the Nederland FIRST Robotics Club. He said it gave him an edge when entering college and provided him with a vast array of skill from technical engineering to leadership.

Finkiewicz has been both a team leader and consultant for multiple projects and is the president of Students for the Exploration and Development of Space at MSU Denver and other clubs.

The FIRST Robotics 1584 is looking for students to join them and also seeks donations to keep the team going. It meets Friday, November 14, and December 5 and 19, from 3:30 to 6 p.m.

Brian Enke, one of the original teachers in the club gives 10 reasons to join the club:

10. It beats trying to play Frisbee Golf during Ned's hurricane season.

9. Mentoring really is hard work, no pay and infinite glory. Do it now.

8. Prove your math teacher wrong: you really can divide by zero. Solve this equation: Benefits of the robotics program to the school equals direct engineering experience/cost. The added cost to the school is zero, so actually solving this equation might open a black hole that will destroy the Earth.

7. Working at a local shop over the winter earns a few dollars, but landing a good engineering job at Lockheed Martin someday is worth millions.

6. America needs good scientists and engineers. Or perhaps you prefer leaning to speak Chinese. I'm told its harder than STEM.

5. To all students thinking about switching to Fairview High or Boulder High this April, the Nederland robotics team is going to kick your butts. Again.

4. Robots are fun.

3. When robots take over the world you can be their masters. Everyone else should have studied their STEM.

2. Oops, robots already have taken over the world and with far less mess than in the  Terminator movies. Your only hope for survival is to teach them to do harmless tricks, like launching Frisbees, or dancing.

1. Try getting into an engineering program at a top college without the FIRST Robotics experience. Good luck.

To learn more about the robotics club, contact Annette Treufeldt-Franck at 303-408-4596, rafranck36@msn.com; or Nancy Gerect, 303-642-0681, at naneger@yahoo.com; or Team website at nedrobotics/org.

The Shortridge Family Foundation is to be congratulated on giving these programs a step up.