Hephaestus Robotics team members built their first ROV in a team members driveway. They went on to place 7th at the MATE Underwater Robotics Competition World Championships.

Content by Tim Sylvester

Nine years ago, Barbara and I started the X Academy to provide STEM programs for kids in Santa Cruz. When our son Andrew was in 3rd grade, I went searching for interesting math opportunities to feed his love of math. I found plenty of STEM programs available in Silicon Valley, but very few in Santa Cruz. After driving 90 minutes to take Andrew to a math contest in Pleasanton, I decided I could bring the contest to Santa Cruz. Thus was born the X Academy and the Santa Cruz Math Circle.

The mission of the X Academy remains critically important to nurturing Santa Cruz County middle and high school students with advanced STEM experiences in mathematics and robotics. And we are asking for your support! Our goal is to raise $10,000. A generous donor has offered to match up to $5000 for every dollar you contribute.

The X Academy has grown from hosting a math contest for 20 kids in downtown Santa Cruz, to organizing the Santa Cruz Math Circle where over 300 kids from 22 schools have participated. Two years ago, we started a robotics team which went to the world championship in their first year. This team now meets at a new Maker Space in Harvey West with tools, a 3D printer, and a laser cutter.

When we started the X Academy, our expenses were modest and we were funded by generous parents and registration fees. Today, the Maker Space and Robotics Program are much more expensive to run, but the kids love them. We want to continue the Math Circle and Robotics Team plus open up the Maker Space to more kids. That’s where you come in.

Your tax-deductible donation will make it possible for us to restart the Math Circle in February 2023, support the Robotics Team, keep the Maker Space open, and allow us to waive tuition and registration fees for students with financial need. Please join us by making an end of the year donation either online at PayPal or by mailing a check made out to the X Academy to:

X Academy

℅ Tim Sylvester

148 Cypress Park Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Thanks for your support!

Tim

Robotics Program

Year 2 of the X Academy Robotics program grew from 10 students to 22 from 7 schools to compete in the MATE ROV competition on April 27, 2022. Returning students mentored the younger students on underwater robotics, writing software, electronics and CAD. The team secured Woodstock’s Pizza as its first sponsor providing free pizza for the final weeks leading up to the competition. Doug Erickson of Santa Cruz Works, invited the team to ‘give their pitch’ at the April 6 Startup Pitch Competition, providing them real-world startup experience to explain their engineering designs to professionals.

The team felt super confident as they headed to Watsonville High on April 27, having excellent practice runs in the Boys and Girls Club pool, demonstrating the technical prowess of their design. However, they learned the vulnerability of human error that day when the electronics chamber flooded with water on their first run. Failure to double-check the seal meant key components were fried - rather than panic, the team rallied into problem-solving mode and completely rebuilt the electronics within 4 hours in time for the 2nd run. Amidst the anxiety, the team delivered a stellar engineering presentation that earned them an X Award. Overall the X Academy team placed 3rd.

Andrew and Max Working in the Makerspace

With lessons learned, we are preparing for a 3rd year of robotics. We continue to expand our pool of mentors including parents with product design experience and presentations from Joby Aviation engineers. The team is very focused this year and working hard to make it to the 2023 World Championship.

X Academy has hosted 4 Julia Robinson Math Festivals to recruit kids who love math to participate in the Math Circle.

Santa Cruz Math Circle

Looking ahead to the new year, we are preparing to relaunch the Santa Cruz Math Circle again! Since launching the Math Circle in 2014, we’ve organized 78 weekly math sessions and annual festivals for over 300 students from 62 different schools in Santa Cruz and Monterey County, thirty-eight percent female and one-third from traditionally underrepresented communities of color. A Math Circle is a weekly gathering of pre-collegiate kids to engage in math concepts led by college professors and math professionals. We look forward to providing novel and challenging math to kids who can’t get enough to satisfy their math appetite in school. We are meeting with UCSC Math Department, the County Office of Education Math Coordinator and Pajaro Valley School District GATE program to collaborate on student recruitment.
We are planning to offer 6 weeks of Math Circles on Saturday mornings from 10:00 to 12 noon, starting February Feb 11 through March 25, including the STEAM Expo math festival on March 11, 2023. Mark your calendars and please help us to find those mathy kids who would most benefit from this opportunity.

X Academy Wins + $5,000 Donor Match

Robotics Program

Santa Cruz Math Circle