Penn plays key role in Robotics presence in northern Indiana

Posted on March 13, 2017

A square robot wheeled up to a docking station and loaded up with about a dozen neon balls. The robot pivoted and launched the balls into a bronze cylinder that towered eight feet tall, and then continued to place gears on the airship in the center of the field.

 

After that, the robot raced along the green turf that carpeted Penn High School’s main arena, fighting its way past competitors’ robots, to the next task.

 

Penn’s event attracted 34 teams, ranging from Lafayette, Ind., to Birmingham in suburban Detroit. A crowd of more than 2,000 fans roared as robots took center stage at Penn for the Indiana FIRST Robotics District event on Saturday, March 11, and Sunday, March 12. Watch the highlight reel below …

 

 

Penn High School principal Steve Hope praised the community-wide effort to host the Robotics District.

 

“The FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics District Competition held at Penn High School this past weekend was a huge success,” Hope said. “It was great to see so many community leaders like Mr. Jeff Rea, South Bend Community Chamber President, and Indiana Senator, Mr. Ryan Mishler, in attendance to get a first-hand look at STEM education in action.

 

“Penn High School and the Penn STEM Academy were proud to host this event,” Hope continued. “Months of planning from Penn Assistant Principal for the STEM Academy, Mrs. Rachel Fry, and from STEM Academy Leader, Mr. Josiah Parker, made the event one of the best for Indiana FIRST.

 

“The competition itself is a fast-paced and exciting battle of robots,” Hope said. “However, the real excitement is the learning in our classrooms when students and their mentors, engineers in the community, work together to solve problems. This is the work our students will encounter in college and in business and industry. The skills they use from engineering to communications to fundraising are the skills they will use for life. “

 

Penn High School assistant principal Rachel Fry appreciated the learning benefits for Penn students.

 

“The entire atmosphere at Penn High School this past weekend was incredible!,” Fry said.  “It was fascinating for many to observe the wide range of collaborative work done by Robotics students, which is preparing them well to succeed in their futures beyond our walls. 

 

“While the District Robotics Competition certainly provided ample opportunity to promote STEM from young to old, it was so much more than that as a true community event,” Fry added. “The amount of work and volunteer time that went into making this happen cannot be numbered.  I am honored to work in a corporation with so much pride, as evidenced by the number of former teachers I met and Penn alumni we welcomed back. I appreciate the amount of support shown to our students by our governmental representatives, our school board, our administration, and our community at large!”

 

Penn’s Team 135 reached the semifinal round. (click here for all the results). Next up for Team 135 is another district event at Perry Meridian in Indianapolis as the Kingsmen try to qualify for the state finals in Huntington (April 6-8) and the World Championships in St. Louis (April 26-30).

 

As the Kingsmen made significant strides toward qualifying for state and the worlds this season, the impact that Penn Robotics made by hosting the district event is far reaching. Penn is the first northern Indiana school to host a major Robotics event, giving the technology-based competition an important presence in the region.

 

“This event was amazing for not just Penn, but all of northern Indiana and our whole region,” Penn STEM Academy leader Josiah Parker said. “Not only did we bring in all of the teams around us, but we brought in sponsors to the area.

 

We brought a lot of people in to show them what FIRST Robotics is,” Parker said. “We showed them what Penn can do, what Penn has, what Penn offers. I’ve heard nothing but amazing things from people, how amazed they are at what we have here, and how well we host an event.”

 

Penn Robotics coach Jim Langfeldt said that hosting the event was a tremendous experience for the students.

 

“This has been an exciting weekend for our students,” Langfeldt said. “They’ve worked really hard this year. I think it’s been fun for them to see people come to their high school to compete in their main arena, and to celebrate the wonderful facility and the great technology and resources that we have here at Penn.

 

“A Robotics event is really hard to understand until you see it,” Langfeldt continued. “I think bringing the community into our event, finally, after 20 years, has really been a special part of the weekend. Going forward, it’s going to help us make some new connections, new community partners. We’re excited to see what happens.”

 

Parker said that Penn students developed a great sense of pride from their involvement in hosting the event.

 

“Our students have been hearing from everybody here how amazing the event was, how well run it was,” Parker said. “They heard great things about Penn’s venues and facilities from the people who came here for the event. I think they developed a great sense of pride from this, because they can show off now to the entire FIRST community.

 

Penn senior Chris Dell appreciated the opportunity for a ‘home’ event.

 

“I thought it was nice, because it was our chance to give back to the FIRST community,” Penn student Chris Dell said. “This event brought more awareness to the Penn Robotics program, and FIRST. After being involved in FIRST Robotics for 8 years, it was a dream come true to be able to compete in an event at Penn High School for my senior year."

 

As the Penn students tore down the stations and packed up the equipment, the enthusiasm from the weekend was already focused on the future.

 

“We’ve already talked about what we can do for next year,” Parker said. “We’d like to open up a bid for the state championship next year.”

 

 

Last Modified January 12, 2022