Robotics continues to be in the forefront of our efforts.

Earlier last month, two of our community teams participated in the international Western Edge Open robotics competition held on Long Beach.

The Garage Engineers, a home-based community team comprised of 8th grade students from Lewis and Pershing Middle Schools earned second place in the Championship Division. This means they finished as one of the top teams in each of the four divisions. A total of 76 teams from 20 different countries participated in the Western Edge Open.

“Mechanical Meatloaf (w/a side of pickles)” (FIRST LEGO League #50899) which is also a home-based team composed of students from Lewis Middle School also was on hand for the competitive. The Meatloaves participated with teams from Hungary and Washington State for the On-the-Spot Challenge and supported the event as goodwill ambassadors and volunteers. Nice job, Mechanical Meatloaf.

FIRST events could not go smoothly without volunteers and community support at every level. Our local teams sincerely thank all of the coaches, friends, mentors, and family who give their time and effort to the robotics community.

After a six-year hiatus, several FIRST ROTOBICS Challenge teams will be working with the San Diego County Fair – Student Showcase to create a one day competition to be held at the fair on Saturday, June 10, from 11:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

They will have three FIRST one day scrimmage competitions, with a modified FIRST ROBOTICS Competition (FRC), FIRST TECH Challenge (FTC), and FIRST Lego League (FLL) competition. Included in this event will be one of our very own FIRST LEGO LEAGUE teams “Dailard Mechanical Dolphins- Cretaceous Coders” (#34264). In addition, the Patribots, the robotics team from Patrick Henry, will be demonstrating their robot at the FRC level.

The Pershing Middle School robotics team, the “Pershing Robotic Panthers”, is actively seeking adult volunteers to assist in coaching their First Lego League Robotics program teams starting in Fall of 2023. No robotics experience is necessary, nor must applicants have a student at Pershing. Only time and interest in furthering the STEM education and opportunities for our local public school students is required.

The First Lego League program runs from August through April with a break during the holidays. Time commitment is approximately 3-6 hours a week, depending on role. Training provided. Be a part of a fabulous learning and growth experience for middle school students pursuing an interest in STEM.

Interested adults can contact Jennifer Saegert at [email protected] for additional information.

Visita hcstemm.org for more information about the Henry Cluster Foundation.

Editor’s note: This article was provided by Toni Xavier.