Holy Cross Team Inspires Judge

Holy Cross Robotics Team

Not many judges send two-page emails congratulating students who didn’t receive a top award. However, one of the judges at a recent robotics competition did just that. The Holy Cross students, per the judge, were unanimously applauded as a team that deserved recognition. To quote the email, “This first year team was small but mighty. They are obviously on a crusade to work together and excel in the world of Robotics.” To which their coach, Kittie Batiste says, “Amen.”

Ms. Batiste’s team of 5 th and 6 th grade Holy Cross students was tasked with identifying a
challenge within the human water cycle. They had to research the problem and then offer an
innovative solution. The group of three (reduced from seven) spent two and a half months on
the project. All time invested was after school—for both kids and Ms. Batiste. Not only did the
Holy Cross team get a late start on the challenge, in contrast to many schools in the competition, they didn’t have funding.

What they did have, according to Ms. Batiste was eagerness, resilience and tenacity. “The kids
were gung ho,” Ms. Batiste continued. And then she shared the moment they were (almost)
overwhelmed. “When we arrived in our mismatched clothes and saw the teams from 39
competing schools, all in matching shirts, it was intimidating.” Yet the toughest moment was
when the kids were unable to print out their material for a computer code presentation.
However, that was also the moment when the judges took notice. Since they couldn’t print it
out, the students drew the code by hand. According to the email-writing judge, “We were
impressed.”

Next year? According to Ms. Batiste a Holy Cross team will be back. She is already seeing
interest, and she’ll be ready to work with whatever students show up to compete.

Though Ms. Batiste loves teaching at Holy Cross she didn’t start her career at a Catholic school. In fact, she was getting ready to start a job in the public system when she felt a pull toward something different. “God was calling me,” she shared. She has never regretted her decision. According to Ms. Batiste, at Holy Cross the smaller class sizes, respect for teachers and personal faith coalesce to create a more comfortable learning environment. And then there’s the positive attitude of her students, such as the three youngsters she took to the robotics competition.

​Again quoting the judge, “They were poised, deferred to each other and obviously understood
what they were doing.” And that, more than any award, is recognition to be proud of.