Congratulations to our Robotics Team

I am proud to share good news about our robotics team from the high school.  Mr. Jeff Newson is the advisor for the team.  Robotics is a great way for our students to get  "real world" experience integrating intellectual kinowledge with "hands on" experience.  Obviously these students are doing a fantastic job.  Congratulations to the students and keep up the great work!  Also, Mr. Newsom is an integral part of sustaining this wonderful program and I want to thank him for giving these students the opportunity to shine in this arena.  Mr. Newsom provided the following article for the blog.

On Friday, December 14, two robotics teams and a group of first year robotics students from Penn-Trafford High School, observed and competed in the VEX Sarah Heinz House Robotics Competition.  This competition was devised to get more students involved with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) based education.  

There were 23 teams competing from Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio. The first year robotics students went to watch their fellow classmates compete, and they volunteered their time to work at the competition.  The competition was hosted by The Sarah Heinz House and was run be the CMU Robotics Academy.

Team 1462 A finished with a 4-4 record in the preliminary rounds and was the 11th seed but was eliminated in the alliance tournament in the semi-finals.  The students from this team included Jordan Lock, Keith Barkefelt, and Josh Zielinski.  These students should be congratulated for their hard work.

Team 1462 B finished the preliminary rounds as the only undefeated team with an 8-0 record and the number one seed for the alliance part of the tournament.  Following the alliance selection, Team 1462 B, consisting of Isaac Shannon, Salvatore Ross, and Sam Godich, teamed up withteams from McKeesport and Plum and won the tournament.

They finished the tournament with an overall record of 13-1 and also claimed the "Excellence Award" for the best overall robot in the competition.  This award qualified them to participate in the VEXWorld Championships which will be held in April at the Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, CA.

In order to give this team the opportunity to compete at the world competition, they will need to raise between 8 - 10 thousand dollars over the next couple of months to pay for registration, flights, rooms, etc. If any businesses or individuals would like to sponsor or donate to give the students this opportunity, please contact Mr. Jeff Newsom @ newsomj@penntrafford.org.  If you would like to learn more about the competition, please visit www.robotevents.com and click on the "VEX Sack Attack" link.