Among the notable teachers here at Hills, one has proved to be exceptionally noteworthy, and that would be Robert Yost.

Although Mr. Yost, Robotics teacher, has been at Hills for 16 years, he has been teaching for a full 20 years. Teaching Fab Lab and Robotics 1, 2, and 3, he enjoys teaching all 4 grade levels and being inspirational towards his students.

“I teach students to solve problems, to learn that mistakes often lead to better solutions, and to never give up,” Mr. Yost explains. “These are life-long skills that students need to succeed in life.”

Mr. Yost’s classes are open to anyone in any grade level who wishes to “apply themselves on a daily basis” and work with others to meet difficult objectives. Students who are interested in activities involving engineering, mechanics, or structural technology often join Robotics in order to gain more insight of and get directly involved with experimenting with and constructing robots.

“When I was in his class my sophomore year,” senior Hager Younes recalls. “He always created a positive environment for our class by being upbeat and enthusiastic. I appreciated that a lot.”

In addition to the Robotics classes, Mr. Yost is the advisor of the Robotics Club, a committed after-school club dedicated to exploring robotics in more depth and in an intimate environment.

“My after-school Robotics Club team is for students wishing to apply STEM principles to solve challenges beyond the classroom, much like with a team sport,” Mr. Yost imparts.

Mr. Yost’s Robotics students are so committed to their projects and find enough enjoyment in it to take it a step further. His First Tech Challenge (FTC) Robotics team (#9921) advanced and competed at the World FTC Competition in Detroit this past April; a huge accomplishment!

“We worked pretty hard. And after all that, when we qualified to go, it was just super exciting,” junior Riya Solanky, a member of the FTC Robotics team, states. “It’s one of my more important memories at school.”

Outside of his students’ accomplishments, Mr. Yost has made personal and commendable accomplishments himself. He succeeded in designing new town additions and getting them approved; he was one of the key players behind the entire operation.

“I designed and created all the construction drawings for town approval to build a 2-car garage and bedroom on-suite a few years ago which is just stunning,” he shares proudly. “And before my teaching career, I worked in industrial control systems where I applied many of the same principles of electro-mechanics [that I do in Robotics, which are pretty much the basis of it all].”

Outside of school, Mr. Yost enjoys working on his collector car restoration. He also enjoys designing with CAD and building house additions including decks, bathrooms, and excavating with his Kubota machine. He is known to be busy all year round working on various projects and finds joy in doing so.

But most of all, it gives him the most joy when students tell him that they switched their college major to pursue careers in engineering because of taking his Robotics classes.

Mr. Yost never ceases to inspire his students and will continue to do so for a long time.