As was broadly reported in the news, Newton teachers went on strike on Friday, January 19, 2024. During the strike, all Newton public school activities were postponed so we could not meet in our workshop at Newton South. Thankfully, we had a strong partnership with WPS Institute, a local non-profit, and they generously offered us space for our student members to continue to gather at their facilities. We set up operations at WPS in a few different spaces, which allowed the many sub-groups, like electrical and engineering, to continue working. Our gatherings at WPS were informal meetings organized by our student leadership with the supervision of interested parents.

After seventeen days of meeting at WPS, the strike ended, allowing students to return to school—and LigerBots to our shop. On Monday, February 5, we packed up our things from WPS and transported them back to South.                          

Despite the setbacks, having a place to work at WPS enabled us to be remarkably productive during our busy build season! We would like to give a huge thank you to WPS for giving us a safe space to congregate and be productive during this period. We finished the robot’s chassis, brought the intake and shooter from prototypes to fully functional mechanisms, and finalized this year’s t-shirts, banners, and booklets.