Building the Future: STEM Excellence at St. Anthony
St. Anthony High School has long been recognized for its strong performance in STEM coursework, and this tradition continues with innovative programs that give students hands-on experience with cutting-edge technology.
Robotics: Engineering in Action
In Cathy Wenthe’s class, a dedicated group of students works one-on-one with engineering concepts each semester to build competition battle robots for the annual Kansas City Bot Competition. The challenge never stays the same—rule changes require a completely new robot design each year, pushing students to think creatively and adapt their engineering solutions.
The program benefits greatly from the expertise of Kevin Vogel of Vogel Manufacturing, who helps guide students with technical knowledge gained from real-world engineering experience. “Students are familiarizing themselves with past designs and using those models to learn maintenance skills that will be required when the robots need repairs during a battle competition,” Kevin explains. This year’s team is busy working out ideas and sourcing products for the next robot design.
Beyond battle bots, students explore a variety of engineering applications. They work with 3D modeling software and take field trips to different manufacturing plants around the area to see engineering principles in action. Each spring, the class participates in the cardboard boat races, in which students design and build boats entirely out of cardboard to see who can travel the farthest—a challenging project that combines design, engineering, and waterproofing creativity.
Physics: Bringing Data to Life
Matt Poston’s physics classes have entered a new era with the addition of PASCO equipment, including the Physics Lab Station Mechanics Starter and Blue Smart Cart Demonstration Kit. This sophisticated technology connects directly to student iPads via Bluetooth, transforming how students interact with physics concepts.
“It’s still all new to us and a good experience to be able to visualize data,” Mr. Poston notes. Instead of simply reading about velocity, acceleration, or force, the students can now see real-time data from their experiments and watch as abstract principles become visual, interpretable graphs and measurements. The connection between the physical equipment and digital analysis tools helps students develop both experimental technique and data interpretation skills—essential abilities for any future scientist or engineer.
Building Apps: The MobileMakers Experience
Phil Zaccari’s MobileMakers course offers students a semester-long journey into the world of app development. Using MacBooks and iPads, students learn SwiftUI, Apple’s modern programming language for creating iOS applications. The highlight of the course is the opportunity to “Build Your Own App,” where students transform their own ideas into functional applications.
This hands-on approach to computer science goes beyond theoretical programming concepts—students learn the entire development process, from initial design to finished product. Whether they’re creating tools to solve everyday problems or building apps for entertainment, students gain experience with the same professional tools and languages used by developers at major tech companies.
Preparing Tomorrow’s Innovators
From the machine shop to the iPad screen, St. Anthony’s STEM programs share a common thread: students learn through hands-on experiences. Whether its troubleshooting a battle robot between competitions, analyzing real-time physics data, or coding their first app, students are developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills along with the technical confidence that will serve them throughout their lives. These programs reflect a commitment to providing students with both a strong academic foundation and practical experience with the tools and technologies that are shaping our future.
