Today we’d like to introduce you to Debra Siegal
Hi Debra, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Ten years ago, my oldest son was invited to join an FTC robotics team. I had never heard of robotics, but quickly saw how much this program benefited my son. The next year, another team parent started an FLL team for the younger siblings and asked if I would be listed as the secondary coach. I knew nothing about robotics or FLL, but as I had two sons on the team, I said I would give it my best shot. My husband, Brady, joined me in this endeavor as we bumbled our way through helping with the project portion of that season. At the end of the season, the head coach decided not to continue coaching for personal reasons. We were left with a dilemma. We could walk away or we could offer to coach the team. Brady and I pulled up our boot straps and jumped in. The first FLL team we formed was Jade Dragons and consisted of 10 homeschooled middle school boys. Another parent, Allen Boyd, joined us to make a coaching team of three. We learned right alongside those boys. And believe it or not, they won First place in robot game at their Qualifier and advanced to State, where they earned the Rising All-Star Award! I was hooked after that season. I fell in love with coaching and did all I could to improve my coaching skills. As we progressed, we saw a need for more teams in the homeschooling community. In 2019, we added Onyx Dragons, our second FLL team. The following year, we founded the nonprofit, Charleston Dragon Robotics. We added an elementary program, Dragon Bytes and added a high school FTC team, Java Dragons. Our vision changed to not only reach the homeschool community, but to reach all students in the Lowcountry with STEM and robotics education. We added summer camps to our offerings in 2021. This past year, we fielded 6 Dragon Bytes teams, 6 FLL teams and 2 FTC teams. We even expanded with one of our FLL teams being a satellite team located in Rock Hill, SC. As I enter my 10th season coaching and my 6th as Chair of CDR, I am more excited than ever to see our program grow! We hope to have our own building soon and expand what we are able to offer.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Not at all. Funding has been our number one issue. While we do charge for camps and registration fees, running a competitive robotics organization costs a lot of money. We try to keep costs low for families so we can reach as many as possible. We have some wonderful sponsors who have continually aided us in our efforts.
We have also struggled at times to maintain consistency with coaching. All of our coaches are volunteers and sometimes the hours are a lot. Coaches come and go, but we are confident that the right people will always show up.
Finally, not having a permanent home is our biggest challenge. We depend on the generosity of local churches and other entities to allow us to use space for free or very low cost. We have to haul all of equipment to every meeting and back, store it in coaches’ garages and take valuable time to set up and break down each week.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am first a homeschool mom. I have 5 kids ages 9-24 and homeschooled for 21 years.
Second, I am a robotics coach. I love coaching the 5th-8th grade FLL teams. I currently coach 2 teams, Sapphire Dragons and Ruby Dragons. I love being able to get in the room with a group of students and begin a new season. We break down the season theme and dig into all aspects. As a coach, I guide them in four areas: Robot Game, Robot Design and Coding, Innovation Project and Core Values. We have about 12 weeks to work through each of these areas before the team competes in a Qualifier. Being able to see kids move from not knowing anything about Lego robotics to competing against the best teams in the state is amazing and rewarding beyond words.
Finally, I am also the chairperson for Charleston Dragon Robotics. As such, I administrate the day to day business. I work with our treasurer to ensure our finances are in order. I oversee communication with our parents, students and coaches. I work with our board of directors to raise funds and set fees. I maintain our calendar and communicate with FIRST, the organization we compete under.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
My go to book is the Bible. Without daily study, I could not accomplish the things I do.
I also keep tabs on the latest robotics trends and products by following several Facebook pages dedicated to Lego and FIRST robotics.
Pricing:
- Dragon Bytes (K-4th grades—$175 for the season
- FLL Challenge (5th-8th grades)—$250 for the season
- FTC (9th-12th grades)—$325 for the season
- Elementary camp—$175
- Middle School camp—$200
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.Charlestondragonrobotics.org
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057459878927
