Indiana FIRST Robotics Tournament-St. Joseph Event

The IN District – St. Joseph Tournament is a qualifying event for the national FIRST Robotics Competition will be held March 10 – 12, 2017 at Penn High School. This is a community event and the first time a District Tournament has been held in Northern Indiana. A of 32 total teams will compete, including Penn’s own Team 135. Four other area high school teams will compete along with Penn: ElkLogics Team 2867 (Elkhart Schools), Las Pumas 2197 (New Prairie High School), Memento Vitam Team 5484 (S.B. Career Academy), and Riley WildBots Team 3865 (Riley High School).

WHEN: Friday, March 10 – Sunday, March 12, 2017

WHERE: Penn High School

EVENT SCHEDULE & DETAILS: http://www.indianafirst.org/2017-st-joseph-event

 

This year’s FIRST Robotics Competition Game Challenge was unveiled on Saturday, January 7, and Penn’s Team 135 just concluded their 6-week build season on February 21st. This is the 20th season of competitions for Penn.

 

The nearly 40-member student team competes in four competitions that run from March until the end of April:

• IN District – St. Joseph Tournament (Penn High School) March 10-12.
• Perry Meridian District Tournament (Indianapolis, IN) March 23-25.
• Indiana State Championships (Huntington, IN) April 6-8.
• FIRST National Championships (St. Louis, MO) April 26-29.

Last year, Penn Robotics Team 135 won awards in three competitions:  the “Judges’ Award” at the Tippecanoe District Tournament (West Lafayette, IN) on March 11-13, the “District Engineering Inspiration Award” at the Perry Meridian District Tournament (Indianapolis, IN) on March 24-26, and the “Regional Engineering Inspiration Award” at the Indiana State Championships in Kokomo on April 14-16.  Team 135 was also honored with a $5,000 award from NASA to pay their entry fee for the World Championships in St. Louis, Missouri.  The team is looking forward to another exciting competition season. 

Team 135 also gives back to the community through various projects. In May 2016, several team members collaborated with other Penn students to build an aluminum walker for a local first grader who could not speak and had difficulty walking.  The “Voice for Braylen” project enabled Braylen to move around with better stability and gave him the ability to speak through the use of a tablet attached to the walker.  It was a problem based learning project that not only benefited Braylen, but taught the robotics students the importance of helping others.

In May of 2015, Penn Robotics students built a prosthetic arm for a third grade Madison Elementary student in the “Hand of Grace” project.  It is also a part of Team 135’s regular activities to visit P-H-M’s elementary and middle schools to inspire younger students and invoke interest in STEM classes, activities and eventual careers.

Through participation in FIRST Robotics Competition, the Penn robotics students experience the excitement of science, engineering, technology and innovation. They learn to build well-rounded life capabilities such as self-confidence, communication and leadership, while also qualifying for over $50 million in college scholarships!