The MTHS Robotics Team performed very well this past weekend at our FIRST Robotics Competition in Portland, OR. We earned a spot in the Event’s Championship Playoff’s, and brought home 2 coveted trophies. The students were extraordinarily hard working, made good decisions under pressure, and worked very well as a team. These actions represent the highest goals of FIRST Robotics, so it was a successful competition for those reasons alone… but there is more good news, as well.

Out of 52 teams competing from WA, OR, CA, ID HI and Canada, MTHS made it to the championship playoffs that include the top 24 teams. Unfortunately, we then had both hardware and software challenges, and lost. We were awarded two trophies: first, the Underwriter’s Laboratories Industrial Safety Award for the team demonstrating the best safety practices of all teams present. (This was the 3^rd year in a row that MTHS earned this award.) We also earned the Judges Award given out a team selected by the FIRST judges to a team selected for demonstrating outstanding achievement in some unique way. MTHS students earned this award for our exceptional contributions (both advisory and financial) in helping to start up other high school FIRST Robotics Teams in the local area. The students should be proud of these awards and their overall performance.

Our entire team of 17 MTHS team members performed well, but special recognition needs to go to a few key performers. Robert Koenig did outstanding software development for the robot, and came through again in helping our “autonomous” mode software run smoothly just in time for the playoffs. Derek Burkett drove of the robot in competition and was great under pressure. Derek also heads our team’s focus on Safety, and was instrumental in earning the Safety Award. Emilie Woog was awesome, controlling the robot’s scoring system and is one of our all round team leaders. Ben Humphries was great in keeping the robot repaired and running smoothly. Tyler Baker was instrumental as our “on-the-field” player, helping team 1778 score effectively. Finally, Brandon Crader and Derek Burkett did a smooth job leading the team though the weekend.

Our team of adult volunteers was also outstanding. These professionals from the local engineering and business community help mentor our students in this demanding technological competition: Scott Lindley, Lindy Baker, Ron Johnsrud, Andrew Nicholson, Rod Schein, and Ed Humphries.

We’d like to invite you to come and support the MTHS Robotics team at the upcoming competition in Seattle. We will be competing March 27^th and 28^th at Key Arena in the FIRST Robotics Microsoft Seattle Regional Event. Some 50+ teams will compete there to win and to earn a place at the National Competition in Atlanta, GA. It is an exciting event that will give you a sense for the excitement these competitions generate, as well as the character and skills that FIRST Robotics is working to build in our future leaders in technology. Please join us and learn about the impact of this amazing program.

Read about this competition in the Enterprise Newspaper.