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Two Monrovia Robotics Teams Go to Worlds: Suitbots and Droidnoughts
Monrovia Weekly Mar 23, 2017
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The Droidnoughts. – Courtesy photo
For the first time the Monrovia High School robotics program will be represented by two teams at The FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship in Houston, TX. On April 18, the Droidnoughts and the Suitbots will travel together to Houston to compete against 130 robotics teams from around the world.
The Suitbots earned their spot in the World championships by first qualifying through league play for the LA Regional Championships. At the LA Championships they reached the Semifinals and won the Connect Award qualifying them for the Western Super Regional Championships in Tacoma, WA where they were again very strong with a record of 7-2 placing them 7th in their division, reaching the quarterfinals. This outstanding result qualified them for the World Championships.
The Droidnoughts also advanced to the LA regional championships. They were one of 20 teams from the western United States to receive an invitation to the World Championships through the First Tech Challenge lottery process.
The Suitbots. – Courtesy photo
These two outstanding Monrovia High School teams will now represent Monrovia, the Los Angeles region, and the 13 western states in The FIRST Tech Challenge World Championships in April.
Monrovia Robotics is an after school program that participates in the FIRST Tech Challenge where students come together to design, build, and program robots to compete in a game that changes each year. Each team is led by an adult mentor who guides them through the process. FIRST robotics has been described as a sport for the mind and is an all encompassing STEM activity. In addition to building the robots, teams also compete in the ability to inspire, community outreach, connections to the engineering community, innovation, design process and programming skills, which are documented in an engineering notebook.
The Monrovia Robotics Program started in 2010 with one robotics team made up of nine students. Today the program has six robotics teams made up of over 60 students. In addition, the students at Monrovia High School have been instrumental in mentoring and spreading robotics to both of the Monrovia Unified School District (MUSD) middle schools. All together MUSD has 10 robotics teams.
FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is more than just building robots. The mission of FIRST is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting Mentor-based programs that build science, engineering, and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership.
Please support Monrovia’s effort to send these outstanding robotics students to the World Championships in Houston. We have created a GoFundme account (https://www.gofundme.com/mhs-robotics-worlds-2017) where we are accepting donations. Or you can contact the Monrovia Robotics program coordinator, Tom Dobson (tdobson@monroviaschools.net), for information on how to make a tax deductible donation or a donate by check.
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