MARS Bound for Championship Event!
- Posted by Pat Arnold on March 19th, 2008
The Jupiter High School Robotics team and the Inlet Grove/Suncoast High Schools Robotics team won prestigious awards at the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) competition held in Orlando this past weekend. The Jupiter "Mars" team received the Regional Chairman's Award* which honors the team that best represents a model for other teams to emulate and embodies the purpose and goals of FIRST. The award helps keep the central focus of the FIRST Robotics Competition on the goal of inspiring greater levels of respect and honor for science and technology. "This is truly one of the greatest honors of the competition and it again earns Jupiter a place at the National Competition in Atlanta," said School Board member Dr. Monroe Benaim who attended the three day competition.
The Inlet Grove/Suncoast team 179 brought home the Regional Finalist trophy and won the Delphi "Driving Tomorrow's Technology" award which is given for a special use of technology. "The team and robot were extraordinary in every way. The degree of sophistication demonstrated by its simplicity and performance were truly remarkable," according to Dr. Benaim. "The F.I.R.S.T. Robotics Competition exemplifies all we try to do as a school district to reach out and engage all students to excel in areas that otherwise often go unrecognized. This competition represents ingenuity in math, science and engineering fields in a context much like that of any high school sport."
Students, school staff and sponsors work nights, weekends and many months preparing for the competition. The two teams will now travel to Atlanta, Georgia, for the National Championship April 16-19, 2008.
*View MARS Chairman's Award submission here: http://www.marsbot.org/Chairmans
