Avon High School Robotics Team Celebrates Kickoff 2015

On Saturday, January 3rd, the Avon High School Robotics Team, the ÜberBots, celebrated the start of their 2015 season at a yearly event called Kickoff. Approximately 75 people attended, including Mr. Mala, the superintendent of schools, along with other members of the board of education, parents, alumni, and other community members. Every year on Kickoff, an organization called FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) releases a challenge for the students to take on by building a robot. This year, the students will need to build a robot that will build enormous stacks of tote boxes and recycling bins in a game called Recycle Rush. The game release can be found at: http://youtu.be/hTyCIYZQ_1s

FIRST is an international nonprofit organization that aspires to bring STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) to students in new and exciting ways, inspiring them to continue in those fields and cultivate a society that celebrates innovation in science and technology. Although there are many levels of FIRST competition for students of all ages such as FLL (FIRST Lego League), the ÜberBots participate in FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition), which is designed for students in grades 9-12.

The 48 students on the team and their mentors will have six and a half weeks in which to design, build, code, and wire their robot, after which they will begin to compete with other teams in the New England region. Though mentors play a large part in the process, most team functions including basic management, robot build, and public relations are regulated for the most part by the students themselves, giving them the opportunity to develop strong leadership, business, and interpersonal skills. The team also participates in various offseason competitions during the spring and fall, and spends its summer vacation volunteering and doing community outreach.

This year, the ÜberBots will be competing at the Waterbury District Event (February 27th - March 1st), the UMass Dartmouth District Event (March 12th - 14th) and the Hartford District Event (March 27th - 29th). The season concludes with a New England regional championship at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and, for the highest-ranked teams, the FIRST Championship in Saint Louis, Missouri. Robotics competitions are open to the community, so please feel free to attend! For more information about the team or to learn how to become a sponsor, please visit http://www.uberbots.org/o.