High School Spotlight: Titus Rehard

Born a natural engineer, toddler Titus looked for household objects he could subject to his carefully planned dissembling tests. Titus’s success ratio was unusually high, which caught the attention of his parents. Being in a independent studying family, Titus was determined in kindergarten to free up his time for engineering. He did this by waking up early and consistently finishing all his schoolwork as quickly, completely, and accurately as possible so that he could learn to build complex Rube Goldberg ball contraption machines using wood and Legos. At age 9, Titus’s life changed when his parents found a FIRST Lego League (FLL) robotics competition. Titus led the team with his programming and building skills and won the 1st Place Championship and 1st Place Robot Performance as a rookie team! This experience skyrocketed Titus’s passion to become an engineer – just like his dad.

Without a doubt, independent studying has opened the floodgates of opportunity for Titus to customize his learning in pursuit of engineering. Although Titus loves to learn Krav Maga, ride his bike, swim, play music, basketball, pickleball, and Ga-Ga ball, being surrounded by his six siblings under the guidance of his parents each day is where he truly thrives. Robotics is a family affair and so is working on the tech team at his local church. Titus’s flexible schedule allows him to partake in unprecedented tours, give formal presentations to STEM companies, be highlighted in multiple magazines and newspapers, gain sponsorships, and give back to the community by teaching robotics and chess at local schools and in the community.

Over the course of eight years, Titus has won 36 robotics awards and has advanced to the World Robotics Competition level three times. Titus is now in 11th grade and has been competing in a FIRST Technical Challenge robotics competition throughout his high school years. He works to design, CAD, 3D print, build, and program a robot to accomplish tasks along with thousands of other teams across the globe. His team recently won the 1st Place Championship at their qualifier competition and will be competing in the Southern California Championship at the end of April.

Titus, you are a shining example of someone who uses your gifts to make an impact on the community around you. Keep it up!