The robotics team, 8204, won the qualifiers match Jan. 28 with only two weeks to redesign their robot. The team has gone through a lot of struggles and obstacles to get to where they are now: Regional Qualifiers.     

“We put a lot of time and effort and long nights in at the school to make it where we are right now,” Club President Lauren PeCoy said.

The team won the Motivate Award, which is given out to the team that exemplifies the essence of first Tech Challenge through team building, team spirit and has enthusiasm.

“I am extremely proud of everyone. Our judging interview and notebook were amazing and everyone conducted themselves professionally at the competition,” PeCoy said.

The team thought of a whole new idea for scoring in the competition.

“We decided that the corner vortex was not worth our time. So we created a launching mechanism to shoot in the center vortex,” PeCoy said.

Even though they had a new idea that they knew was going to work they had limits and concerns for the robot at competition.

“We were concerned for the consistency of our launcher,” Robotics Club Sponsor Dr. Jacob Day said. “Also, the durability of the launcher lasting all day.”

The team has found ways to improve for next year’s competition.

“We need to set aside more time for meetings and building,” junior Devin Crabtrey said.

FTC runs on gracious professionalism according to firstinspires.org “Gracious Professionalism is part of the ethos of FIRST. It’s a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community.”

“I see a lot of growth and dedication, also commitment to gracious professionalism,” PeCoy said.

The team has successfully been through the first part of the FTC or First Tech Challenge’s competition and is going to the regionals competition Feb. 25.