Reece Liu, a 10th-grader and member of the Cyber Spartans robotics team, discusses the robot the team will enter in the Florida state championship during a presentation at the Garner Center for Innovation at Miami Country Day School at 601 NE 107th St., on Monday, March 2, 2026, in Miami. Fla. Liu is joined by team captain Cameron Schoch, left, team member Martin Parker Sierra, and team member Maia Mandel, right.
SAM NAVARRO
Special for the Miami Herald
Yes, the humans are still smarter than the robots at Miami Country Day School.
Case in point: Robotics team member Reece Liu ran into a problem when his team worked on its newest robot. The pieces he needed were unavailable for order. But he had an idea.
He made his own parts.
“I had to do that myself,” the 10th-grader said. “I had to 3D print a mold, and then I had to pour it in and cast it all myself.”
The pieces Reece made helped the machine move. This robot launches balls and rolls around.
The creative engineering is what makes the Cyber Spartans team run — and succeed — at the private school at 601 NE 107th St. near Miami Shores.
Reece Liu, a 10th-grader and member of the Cyber Spartans robotics team, works on the robot the team will enter in the Florida state championship during a presentation at the Garner Center for Innovation at Miami Country Day School at 601 NE 107th St., on Monday, March 2, 2026, in Miami. Fla. SAM NAVARRO Special for the Miami Herald Support behind the team
A robot built by members of the Cyber Spartans robotics team at at Miami Country Day School is displayed at the Garner Center for Innovation at 601 NE 107th St., on Monday, March 2, 2026, in Miami, Fla. SAM NAVARRO Special for the Miami Herald
Since launching under the guidance of teacher Tracy Haswell in 2022, the team has already won several awards and competitions. If the team wins this year’s state competition in Winter Haven on Thursday, March 5, it will qualify for a competition in Houston that will feature 40 teams from around the world.
Haswell began teaching at Country Day during COVID. She was impressed by the school’s Innovation Center and had the goal of expanding the robotics program once students got back on campus.
Haswell has taught physics and chemistry for decades and has worked with robotics students for the past 15 years. Helping the team comes natural to her as former athlete who played basketball and soccer for the University of Rochester as an undergraduate.
“I’ve always believed if you create, you learn more,” she said.
The robotics team has 11 students — and their success has gotten attention from Country Day parents, alumni and the community.
How the robotics team succeeds Cameron Schoch, a 12th-grader and captain of the Cyber Spartans robotics team, discusses the robot the team will enter in the Florida state championship during a presentation at the Garner Center for Innovation at Miami Country Day School at 601 NE 107th St., on Monday, March 2, 2026, in Miami. Fla. SAM NAVARRO Special for the Miami Herald
“We have tripled our sponsors, speakers and mentors, and it takes about $300 to be a sponsor in this school,” said Cameron Schoch, a team captain and senior.
The sprawling laboratory space is spread out across three rooms. One lab was created from a section of the school’s cafeteria; another was converted from what used to be a music room.
Robotics team members work on their projects in the afternoon after classes, and sometimes use free periods to test or work on their creations. Some Cyber Spartan teammates also participate in other extracurricular activities, making their time in the lab that much more important.
Using a PlayStation video game controller, team members control their latest creation in a fenced-off course. Their robot, made of steel that they’ve cut, pieces they’ve made and others that they’ve ordered, can move in any direction and throw balls into a bucket. It can also stop and lift itself off the ground.
Cameron values the experience for how it is preparing her for her college future. She is one of three seniors on the team and has applied at multiple colleges to study biophysics and biochemistry.
“I find that a lot of the mindset from robotics, of being OK with failure, problem-solving, trial and error, is basically transferable to all of science,” she said. “Especially research-oriented science which is what I want to go into.”
Ahead of the March 5 competition, the students scrutinized their creation and thought about ways to improve it. As impressive as their robot’s movements were, the Cyber Spartans always think about ways to improve.
Members of the Cyber Spartans robotics team at Miami Country Day School pose with the robot the team will enter in the Florida state championship during a presentation at the Garner Center for Innovation at 601 NE 107th St., on Monday, March 2, 2026, in Miami. Fla. SAM NAVARRO Special for the Miami Herald
Maia Mendel, an 11th grader and member of the Cyber Spartans robotics team, discusses the robot the team will enter in the Florida state championship during a presentation at the Garner Center for Innovation at Miami Country Day School at 601 NE 107th St., on Monday, March 2, 2026, in Miami. Fla. SAM NAVARRO Special for the Miami Herald
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Miami Herald
Michael Butler writes about minority business and trends that affect marginalized professionals in South Florida. As a business reporter for the Miami Herald, he tells inclusive stories that reflect South Florida’s diversity. Just like Miami’s diverse population, Butler, a Temple University graduate, has both local roots and a Panamanian heritage.