Coronado Robotics Coach Roberta Lenert was recognized as the Coach of the Year 2024/2025 for FIRST LEGO League (FLL) during the Southern California Championships Sunday, January 19. According to the FLL website, the Coach of the Year award is presented to a coach who demonstrates exceptional leadership and guidance, and recognizes coaches who inspire their teams to do their best and exemplify the FLL Core Values.
Roberta is the head coach for both Coronado Middle School and Coronado High School Robotics, starting both programs from the ground up. Roberta first brought FLL to Coronado Middle School as a STEM pathway for the kids that were interested in robotics, engineering and coding. After seeing the success and passion her kids had for robotics in middle school, Roberta expanded the program by adding First Tech Challenge (FTC) to the program offerings at the high school.
“This has been such a huge year for Coronado Robotics and I am so incredibly proud of all my teams both in FLL and FTC,” said Roberta. She went on to share her thoughts about the coach of the year award presentation saying, “It felt amazing to be able share this moment with Kailani [Lenert’s daughter, CMS coach and Engineering student at USD], our CMS championship team ‘Triton Tribe’ and our outstanding coaches and supportive parents. I am truly blessed.”
Sean Wilbur, one of Coach Roberta’s robotics students who participates on the high school team and coaches the middle school team, said, “Coach Roberta has been a beacon of positivity and encouragement since I joined the Coronado Robotics program back in 2019. Coach Roberta has not only coached me in being a team member, both at CMS and CHS, but also shown me how to be a leadership figure whenever I am coaching the teams. She has perfected the balance of successfully guiding our teams without pressuring our teams to pick a certain method or solution. I could not think of a more deserving and positive role model who could have possibly won the award, Coach Roberta is always 120% ready to help us with whatever we need, and she has been one of the largest role models I have had throughout my STEM journey.”
Coach Roberta’s 20 years of experience in education, where she taught in the classroom and built and taught academic courses for homeschooling programs, provided a foundation for her ability to build and develop the award winning FLL program at CMS. FLL holds competitions for students ages 9-16 to build and program LEGO robots with the objective of navigating missions in robot games. FLL focuses on teaching teamwork, problem solving, coding and engineering principles. Roberta also has an impressive history as a fierce competitor and leader, having been the Team Captain and three-time All American for the University of California, Santa Barbara volleyball team. Her leadership and passion for inspiring these kids to be their best and follow their dreams is evident during every discussion of Coronado Robotics.
Coach Roberta has done an amazing job of bringing in qualified mentors and coaches from the community. She brings in technical experts, military experts and engineers to help guide these young students in their journey. Fellow robotics coach and NASA Engineer Pete Waydo was recruited by Roberta in the early stages of the robotics program. Pete said, “I have had the pleasure of coaching alongside Roberta for several years now and have really enjoyed and appreciated watching her smart, experienced, and ever-positive style clearly change the lives of so many young people. She has a true gift for what she does and our community is so much stronger for it. There are a whole bunch of Coronado kids heading for fruitful careers in science and engineering thanks in no small part to her efforts.”
The members of both the CMS and CHS robotics team work hard under the guidance of Coach Lenert, and one student shared her thoughts on the impact Lenert has made. “Coach Roberta helped me succeed by always encouraging us in all the different things we work on, and she has taught us to come in and give 110% effort and focus,” said Mia Rodriguez, 6th grade member of Robo Tritons CMS All Girls Team. “She stands out because she is always energetic and really cares about our success in robotics. She deserves this honor because she truly cares about all of us!”
In talking with Coach Roberta, her passion for the program and her kids is evident. Even after her kids graduate or transfer schools, she stays involved and helps them achieve their dreams. One of Roberta’s robotics team members, Caroline, is from a military family and transferred to Maryland last year. Roberta continued to mentor Caroline from afar as she tried to stay involved in robotics. Caroline shared, “Coach Roberta is the essence of the Coronado Robotics Program. The enthusiasm and energy she brings each and every day inspires me and the whole team to give the projects our all and to not let the challenges get us down. I can think of no one more deserving of the Southern California FIRST Coaches/Mentor Award because of her hard work and dedication to Coronado Robotics. Even after I moved to Maryland she still included me in the program and sought to guide and help me in any way she could. The network and team culture she has built in this program is incomparable to any other organization I have been a part of.”
The regular competition season for Coronado Middle School Robotics has ended but there are events year-round they will participate in. The Coronado High School Team is also busy with competitions. Coach Roberta shared that she is excited for the future of the program and can’t wait to see the amazing things these young, future engineers will do.
