Ankeny School to Host First Robotics Tournament

From an Ankeny School District press release:

Prairie Ridge Middle School will host a state qualifying First Tech Challenge robotic tournament on Dec. 8.  The tournament starts with an opening ceremony at 11:15 a.m., and competition continues until approximately 6 p.m. 

Two teams from Ankeny schools will participate in the competition, alongside teams from 16 schools in Iowa.

The event is free and open to the public.  Come to Prairie Ridge Middle School and see this exciting new technology event at Ankeny Schools.  Student teams will be putting weeks and months of design, planning and engineering to the test in the First Tech Challenge.

One of the learning aspects of the competition involves teams being randomly assigned alliances with other teams, which tests abilities to work together, consult on strategy, and adjust on the fly.  Each team is awarded points if they win their match.  After many qualifying rounds, teams compete in an elimination match, with the final team advancing to the state tournament.

Ankeny's two teams, Robohawktagon and InDEnProCom, have already participated in several tournaments across the state.  InDEnProCom recently won the Inspire Award, qualifying them for the 2013 state tournament.

About FTC
FIRST Tech Challenge is an exciting club for students to design, build, and program robots to compete in an alliance format against other teams.  Students in the program learn hands-on education from mentors and coaches from industry professionals, while developing networking and team-building skills.  Programs and competitions such as this help students gain experiences that can help build their resume and affect his/her future.