Kingswood Oxford’s Robotics team brought home several honors – including the “Think Award” – from a competition on Nov. 30 in Potsdam, NY.
Traveling with two coaches and the robot they’d built, the students competed against 28 other teams in the sixth annual FIRST Tech Challenge Championship at Clarkson University.
FIRST, founded nearly 20 years ago by inventor Dean Kamen, is an acronym for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.” Its mission is to help students discover and develop a passion for science, technology, engineering, and math.
The “Think Award” was given to the team that best understands the role of the engineering notebook in the robot-design process. KO was also a runner-up for the “Motivate Award,” which goes to the team with greatest spirit and community outreach.
In the “Ring It Up” game, a tic-tac-toe-line contest in which the robot competes, KO came in 9th. In the competition for the most prestigious award, the “Inspire Award,” KO was the second runner-up.
“The coaches were incredibly impressed with each team member's contribution to the successful interview with the judges,” said KO Math teacher and Robotics team coach Donna Balcezak.
Encouraging creative thinking is a critical part of KO’s mission; for information about enrollment or the next Open House for prospective students on Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013, contact admissions@k-o.org.
