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Think Math & Science Are Boring? City Students Use Them To Make Robots

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Summer school with a twist. Baltimore City students are getting a chance to put their math and science skills to the test.

Jessica Kartalija explains.

Wednesday, hundreds of students who have been building and designing robots challenged other students in an all-day competition.

School may be out for the summer, but at Coppin State, the competition is just heating up.

"I just came here to have fun," said a student.

"The kids study math in the morning and they get to make robots in the afternoon," said Joshua Gabrielese, Baltimore City Public Schools. "They have a big championship and this is their championship to show off what they've learned."

City school students in the summer camp program compete against other kids in teams of two and three.

"Today we are out here to win and have fun building robots and designing them and competing in the competition," said one student.

"I really like robotics and I have always found them interesting," said Noah Lee.

With some 160 teams, it may be the largest middle school robotics competition in the country.

"Our attendance rates for summer school have gone way up and they're learning math and if you learn the math and the science, you can do this professionally and get paid, and that's the message we are trying to get across," Gabrielese said.

The competition gets tougher every year as the designs become more innovative.

More than 300 city school students took part in the competition.

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