Chapter 61 - The Freshman Team
Back at Westbrook High, the robotics lab welcomed its newest members.
Coach Daniels deliberately paired experienced students with freshmen.
Alex found himself mentoring four students who had never touched engineering equipment before.
One of them nervously held a screwdriver.
"I'm afraid I'll break something."
Alex smiled.
"You probably will."
The freshman looked horrified.
Alex laughed.
"So did I."
He opened the old notebook rescued after the hallway incident.
Inside were photographs of broken prototypes.
Bent brackets.
Cracked plastic.
Failed experiments.
"I built all of these."
"You kept them?"
"I kept the lessons."
The students relaxed.
Suddenly mistakes didn't seem quite so frightening.
Emma organized a challenge.
Every group had one hour to build a simple assistive device using only recycled classroom materials.
The room quickly filled with cardboard, tape, rubber bands, and creative ideas.
Some projects barely functioned.
Others worked surprisingly well.
Coach Daniels walked between tables without giving answers.
Instead, he kept asking the same question.
"What did you discover?"
Not,
"What went wrong?"
By the end of the afternoon, every group demonstrated its prototype.
The youngest students applauded one another enthusiastically.
Alex watched quietly.
Months earlier, he had entered this room focused only on solving engineering problems.
Now he realized mentoring might be just as meaningful.
As everyone cleaned their workstations, Lily approached him.
"You know..."
"What?"
"You don't teach like most people."
Alex looked puzzled.
"How do I teach?"
"You make mistakes sound useful."
Alex smiled.
May you like
"They usually are."
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