Crusader Robotics has been part of Mayer Lutheran for fifteen years. Five years ago it had narrowed to a single team of about six students; today it's three teams of twenty-four. Here's how that growth happened — and why it matters.
It is, a little. We design them, build them, and compete them in tournaments. But strip away the awards and the rankings, and what you find in our workspace is a group of kids working on a problem together.
A freshman who didn't know a servo from a stepper motor in September is, by February, fixing the code a senior wrote. A senior who's been in the program for five years is patiently explaining CAD to an eighth grader. Four kids are gathered around a CNC router machining a brass flywheel — something most adults don't know how to do.
In a school, it's easy to feel invisible. In this room, kids are needed. They're trusted. They're known.
Carter and Grant — a senior and a junior on our flagship team this year — were both freshmen in 2021, when the program had narrowed to a single team of six students. They've watched it grow back around them. Here's what that growth looks like.
| Season | Game | Teams | Record | National rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21–22 | Freight Frenzy | 1 team / ~6 students | 7–5 | #2,243 |
| 22–23 | Power Play | 2 teams | 17–4 | #1,629 |
| 23–24 | CenterStage | 3 teams | 17–12 | #1,186 |
| 24–25 | Into the Deep | 3 teams | 17–10 | #1,669 |
| 25–26 | DECODE | 3 teams / 24 students | 24–7 | #520 |
Zachary is a senior this year, graduating in May. He joined Crusader Robotics as a freshman in 2022, when we re-launched our second team.
For four years, Zach has been the kind of student coaches hope for — the one who can calmly solve a mechanical issue minutes before a match, who designs a unique fix to a problem no one else saw, who helps teammates understand a concept instead of showing off that he already does.
This is his last season. But the program doesn't stop.
That's how this program has grown. Older students pour into younger ones. Younger students grow into leaders. And the leaders train the next ones.
It happens every season. It's quiet, and it's deliberate, and it's the thing that makes this more than a club.
Mayer Lutheran is a Christian high school. Our robotics program is part of what the school is trying to do: raise up young people who know how to think, how to work hard, and how to treat other people well.
At competitions, our students wear Mayer Lutheran gear. They represent their school, and they represent their faith — not just with words, but with how they treat other teams, volunteers, and the younger kids who come up asking for help.
That's the kind of Christian leadership we hope for. Not a verse on a shirt — the thing lived out, in the middle of a stressful match, with a stranger's kid watching.
The growth you've just read about happened because people in our community chose to support it. The next five years can look the same — or better — if more people do the same.
Any gift goes directly to support the program. No sponsorships, no perks, no expectations.