“Tenacious,” “energetic” and “dedicated” are just some of the words Director of Engineering and Design Programs Michael Carter used to describe 11th grader Catalina Good. Good joined Archer’s robotics team, The Muses, in 2024, after a friend suggested the idea. Eventually, she fell in love with the problem-solving aspect of robotics. Carter said Good has demonstrated a willingness to take on more responsibility over the past year, becoming one of the captains in 2025, alongside co-captain Lucy Kaplan (’26).
Good’s passion for coding began when she was 10, after being inspired by her dad, a computer engineer for a biomedical company. Upon arriving at Archer, Good set out to enroll in as many computer science electives as possible, though the robotics team initially didn’t align with her schedule.
“I started doing robotics because I found a way to lighten up my schedule,” Good said. “I’m still doing Math Team, and I used to think that I’d need all my free periods, but it seems I can do without that. So I think having time to pursue my passions is also nice.”
As co-captain, Good’s job is to make sure the robotics team is coordinated and to help other members of the team learn to use different tools, like the sensors and screws, in the Saban IDEAlab. The yearlong preparation goes towards the annual First Tech Challenge competition. According to the FTC’s website, “This competition aims to allow students to design and build dynamic robots that compete every September.” Leading up to the contest, there are five stages where the robot is expected to advance after every meet.
Kaplan explained that the goal of the final robot is to complete the challenge FTC releases. Given that the challenge and task changes each year, Kaplan said that The Muses have done a variety of projects because each year there is a different task.
“FTC releases a new challenge, and it’s a variety of different little mini things to solve,” Kaplan said. “So in my years of robotics, it’s been lifting a cone and putting it on a pole, hanging your robot off of a bar [or] taking plastic bricks and throwing them into a bucket.”
Kaplan said the robot for the competition is always extremely technical, as it has to abide by size requirements while using limited materials. Despite these challenges, Archer’s robotics team won its league competition in 2024.
“We won our league, which was very exciting,” Kaplan said. “It’s just such a great chance to meet with teams in your general area [and] to learn from them.”
Kaplan said her collaboration with Good in robotics benefits from them being friends outside of robotics. The two became quick friends after meeting through a mutual friend in theater rehearsal.
“The good thing is we are friends, so it’s very easy to communicate with her,” Kaplan said. “I see her a lot outside of robotics anyway — we have this very lovely thing where the things I’m good at are maybe not her best points, and the things she’s really good at are definitely not my best points.”
Sophomore Sophie Herbert, who is another member of the team, said that Good’s passion made it unsurprising that she was selected for a leadership position this year, and her understanding of computer science is far beyond what most people have.
“She’s incredible, and she’s always been a little bit of a natural leader,” Herbert said. “I think because she has a great understanding of the engineering, code and everything that goes into it — she’s well-rounded in all aspects.”
Kaplan also said the language the robot’s code is written in is one she — and many others on the team — do not know how to read. However, Good has intentionally spent time outside of class teaching herself this language.
“The language is a little odd and the grammar structures are a little odd, but she just cares so much that she devoted the time to learn it and become an expert in it,” Kaplan said.
Over the years, Good learned how to read block code because it is easier for other people to read, which means they can help catch mistakes early on. She said it also helps to code in this language because team members in upcoming years will be able to read and understand it as well.
“The thing about making the code usable and accessible for people is, for example, last year, I was working with the seniors who were writing most of the code,” Good said. “I asked them if they could explain to me how the code works, and I’d like to continue that with the next generation of robotics.”
Good’s her teammates said that she has mastered her craft and supports members of the team equally. Carter said Good even brings snacks to practices to further support teammates.
“I think she’s going to make a great team leader next year,” Carter said. “She’s already the technical heart of the team and is helping to teach others.”
