South Vermillion High School students are taking STEM education to new heights through their growing robotics and aerial drone programs, recently showcasing their skills during the school’s first-ever home drone competition on October 31, 2026. Participating schools included South Vermillion, Shakamak Jr.-Sr. High School, and Washington Catholic High School (Washington, IN).
Kim Eaton, Director of Community Engagement, and Susan Smaltz, Director of Communications and Marketing, with the Western Indiana Community Foundation, attended the event to watch the Wildcats compete and see firsthand the opportunities being made available to students.
Grant funding from the Vermillion County Community Foundation has played an important role in supporting these programs, helping cover team and competition registration fees, purchase necessary robotics and drone equipment, and offset travel expenses for regional competitions. This financial assistance helps ensure students can participate in these hands-on learning experiences without placing an additional financial burden on their families.
The robotics program has been active at South Vermillion since 2022, with the aerial drone program added in 2024. Current Head Coach Heather Scott has been facilitating since 2023. Together, the programs currently involve 16 students, with plans to expand to six teams and approximately 23 to 25 students during the next school year.
Coach Scott states, “My role as their coach is mostly being their administrative assistant,” since
students play an integral role in nearly every aspect of the programs. “I bring the teams together with the assistance of my Co-Coach Zach Taylor and the MS robotics Coach Maria Sellers, and then from there, a lot of it is on the students.” Participants must decide each week what is most important and make their action plan from that. “They build their notebooks/flight logs to reflect their process and show how they problem-solve and decide on different paths throughout the season.” Along the way, students gain valuable experience in engineering, programming, problem-solving, project management, teamwork, communication, and leadership.
Beyond the excitement of competition, these programs provide students with practical, hands-on experiences that introduce them to real-world applications of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), while helping prepare them for future educational and career opportunities. Coach Scott has seen even the quietest students grow into confident, independent strategists who now take the initiative to build alliances, collaborate with other teams, and develop their own competition plans. “…these programs are incredible opportunities for students,” Scott concluded, “Drones and Indiana are still growing and developing, and we’ve really got in at the ground level. My goal for students is to first and foremost, have fun and learn.”
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