FTC Robotics Team Newton Busters Competes at League Championship

A local team in Wilmette, Newton Busters, has been busy preparing in their season for the League Championship this Sunday. To date, the team has competed in 3 meets where the scores from each meet cumulatively add together for a 50% weighting at the league championship. They are undefeated in the 15 robot matches, the only team in their league to have no losses across the 3 meets. A robot driver for the team, Gavin Fountain reveals that “we have worked hard this season to reduce likelihood of breakdowns and to create a solid robot that delivers what it is expected to do.” His brother, Hayden, a robot driver specialist, adds “we are facing top teams, so we have to perform at our best levels.” Their robot features the Girl Scout logo and the Exelon logo, indicating sponsorship by Girl Scouts Greater Chicago in Northwest Indiana in partnership with Exelon. Girl Scouts GCNWI has been funding Girl Scout troops interested in FIRST programs over the last 9 years.

Newton Busters is an 8 year old team. Team members include Simone Wall, Samantha Fountain, Yara Goldina, Jasmine Wu, Athena Zheng, Katia Tsytsarina, Elizabeth Savin, Claire Zheng, Erin Lee, Brandon Lee, Ian Quan, Gavin Fountain, Jerry Tian, and Hayden Fountain, all students from District 39 and New Trier High School. Newton Busters competed in FLL and FTC last year, ending the season in world championships for both FLL and FTC. For FLL, the team travelled to the Open European Championship in Denmark to compete against 166 teams from all around the world, landing in 31st place on the robot score board. The FTC team last year advanced from the FTC State Championship and the FTC Super Regional in Iowa to end the season in the FIRST World Festival in St. Louis as tenth place on the robot score board. Samantha Fountain, the veteran eight year member, who has travelled to FIRST competitions in Germany, Australia, Denmark, California, and St. Louis likes to tell everyone “’It’s more than robots’ which is FIRST’s tagline. I’ve received so many skills from FIRST that is not just technical. Our team is always looking to spread the word about how FIRST is the perfect program to transform the once shy kid that I was into a person with confidence, due to all the opportunities related to FIRST as well as Girl Scouts.”

The fanfare expected at the League Championship is high, teams ready with decked out booth decorations expected to wow the judges. At Highland Park High School on Sunday, January 28, 2018, 22 FIRST FTC robotic teams from the East Lake FTC League and the Lake FTC League will be coming together to vie for the coveted championship trophies as well as a chance to advance to the state championship. Twenty-two teams are expected to compete with only 6 teams advancing to the state championship. Teams will be competing in the morning to identify the top 4 scoring robots. In the afternoon, those 4 top robot teams will select their alliance teams for elimination and final rounds. The starting time is expected to be 9am. Elimination rounds likely begin at 2pm. The event is free for spectators. FIRST representatives are available to help interested parties learn more about the programs designed for kindergarten to twelfth grade.