Rancho Christian High School Robotics Team Advances to Worlds

FIRST Robotics Team 4984, Bullseye, a robotics team from Rancho Christian High School gained national recognition this weekend after their second-place finish at the FIRST ® Robotics Competition Hawaii Regional in Honolulu, Hawaii, held March 22-24, 2018.

The team of 17 high school students traveled with Program Director, Mike Majewski, and a crew of volunteer mentors to the prestigious event, one of 63 US Regional Qualifying events for the FIRST Robotics Competition.

The competition relies on both a mastery of technological and engineering skill and political skill in alliance forming and partnership training - teams progress on the success of both their own robot as well as the performance of alliance team members.

They are one of only 146 teams out of 3647 worldwide to qualify for the World Championships through being an alliance captain. The team will advance to the World Championships in Houston April 18 - 21, 2018. They are the first team from Southwest Riverside County to qualify for Championships through tournament play.

The Rancho Christian Team is in its fourth year of competition and has experienced exponential growth and competitive success each year. The program began under the leadership of Mr. Bob Swedberg, longtime educator at Rancho Christian, and has become a marquee program at the established high school.

“We could not be more proud of our team,” states school Executive Director, Betsy Kunau. “It has been truly inspiring to watch this group of students come together and lift one another up through a variety of challenges.” She further shares “The program provides students with not just STEM related opportunities but also significant leadership and team building experiences. I know of no other program where students can access those skills so completely. This season is indeed a banner one for our school.”

About FIRST Robotics Competition
Combining the excitement of sport with the rigors of science and technology. We call FIRST Robotics Competition the ultimate Sport for the Mind. High-school student participants call it “the hardest fun you’ll ever have.”

Under strict rules, limited resources, and an intense six-week time limit, teams of students are challenged to raise funds, design a team "brand," hone teamwork skills, and build and program industrial-size robots to play a difficult field game against like-minded competitors. It’s as close to real-world engineering as a student can get. Volunteer professional mentors lend their time and talents to guide each team. Each season ends with an exciting World Championship in either Detroit, or Houston.

About Rancho Christian School
Rancho Christian School is a Preschool through 12th grade Christian school located in Temecula, CA. The school has been serving the Temecula Valley since 1981. With notable programs in the arts, athletics, service and academics, the 1,000 student school offers multiple students to explore their interests and passions in a variety of areas.