Thanks to student fundraising efforts, Orcutt Academy High School will field its own FIRST Robotics Competition Team, enabling the school to participate in the upcoming FIRST regional competition in March 2011.
According to Orcutt Academy principal Ted Lyon, the purpose of the robotics program is to give students the opportunity to gain and hone skills that could propel them into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers.
Orcutt Academy team members will assume roles as programmers, mechanical designers, and marketers and will attend planning activities at Cal State-Northridge. Following a Jan. 8 teleconference at the University of Southern California, Orcutt Academy will receive its robot kit and begin its six-week “build” window, which closes Feb. 22. The team’s robot will be sent to San Diego to await the 2011 U.S. FIRST Robotics Regional Competition, held March 10 to 12.
The team raised more than $10,000 to participate in the competition. Among the major donors are JC Penney’s, Melfred Borzall, Aerospace Corporation; Scott and Denise McLean; Dr. Maureen Black; Society of Petroleum Engineers Education Collaborative; Softec, San Luis Obispo; Home Depot; Endeavour Academies; and Orcutt Union School District.
This article appears in Nov 25 – Dec 2, 2010.
