His students are building robots that will change the world

The students at Gulfport High School are giving back to their community. And just like their teacher, they are just getting started.

“These are the kids you don’t hear about on the news. These are the ones who are truly trying to make the world a better place,” Clinton Brawley said.

Only in his fourth year as Gulfport High School’s engineering and robotics teacher, Brawley was recently named the 2016 Teacher of the Year by The John C. Stennis Chapter #332 of the Air Force Association. Brawley also instructs engineering and robotics teachers from across the state, who come to him for instruction on how to get students engaged at their schools.

Brawley’s mission is to introduce his students to the engineering world outside of high school classrooms. Students in Brawley’s class have the opportunity to learn engineering, software design and programming, electronics, 3D design, machining, manufacturing — and even business.

Students learn what hard, unbending deadlines are and the importance of thinking quickly on your feet.

Every challenge Brawley presents to his students must have two things in common. There has to be a practical application and the community must benefit in some way.

“The robots are a hook,” Brawley said. “It gets the student in the classroom. That’s when the real learning begins.”

Since the introduction of STEM programs in Mississippi schools — an acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics — students now have the opportunity to build robots from the ground up. Students take their robots to tournaments where they compete against other schools. The better they get, the higher the level of competition.

The primary goal is to better prepare Mississippi students for careers in the science and technology fields. The larger goal is to lift the technical proficiency of the U.S. workforce on a global scale.

Under Brawley’s direction, students conceived then created a wheelchair to boat lift mechanism for handicapped residents to easily get from a pier to a boat.

Brawley and students traveled to MIT in Boston to unveil their wheelchair lift design to scientists and other students.

The “robotics area” of the school that Brawley and his students use is only a classroom in name only. It’s a combination of a work lab and the factory floor of a machine shop. Robots in various design phases are lined up along the walls. Some are big. Some are small. Some are completed works. Others are in various stages of production. Most of the robots are put together for competitions. A robot designed by students in North Mississippi can look completely different than one Brawley’s class creates.

But Brawley’s class isn’t just about robots.

With many schools concerned with education underfunding that has led to cutting classes such as physical education, music and the arts, Brawley and his students have been instrumental in funding themselves. That has led to a need for business and public relations skills.

“I ask students what they want to do. If they say it has nothing to do with robots or engineering, I ask them again. We need students interested in business or in writing grant proposals. They quickly learn it’s not all about robots. It’s about working together as a team.”

Brawley turned down high-paying technical jobs to take on a position with the high school.

He worked for 22 years as a precision technician for the Air Force.

Part of his job involved calibrating the mechanics on missiles used in the Gulf War.

“Remember those videos of missiles going down chimneys,” he asked. “I was responsible for guiding them, making sure they hit their targets.”

Brawley said he considered staying on at Keesler, but became concerned over threats of a government shutdown. He recalled the best part of his Air Force job was training and teaching others. That’s what led him to the education field.

For now, Brawley said he’s happy with where he’s at. He points to one of the robots. The team put it together in under six weeks.

“That one qualified for the world championship in St. Louis. We ended up winning a first place award. It’s the first time a team from Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana or Tennessee ever made it that far,” he said.

“At the end of the day, it’s about logical problem solving. There are no phones, no video games. This is problem solving. And that’s what life is,” he said.

This story was originally published July 20, 2016 at 12:00 PM with the headline "His students are building robots that will change the world."