Robotics Is Hot Stuff At Waialua High
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Del.icio.usWaialua High School students brought home the second-highest prize from the FIRST Robotics Championships at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta - which attracted 342 U.S. and international teams: the Engineering Inspiration Award.
“The award recognizes the program for changing the culture of our students because they have to do community service, find sponsors, do team building activities,” said Waialua teacher Glenn Lee. “Our students are doing things that help them think they can do more.”
The award came after 41 judges evaluated the robotics program binder for the school, which made its fifth appearance at the national event April 19-20.
“We’ve established ourselves, and now we are looking out for other teams, and working with the state,” Lee added, noting that his students have earned seven awards this year. At the Hawaii regionals last month, for example, Waialua’s alliance with McKinley and Sacred Hearts Academy teams earned them all second place. The Waialua team also earned the Chairman’s Award, which qualified it to go to the FIRST events in Atlanta. (FIRST stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.) Also in March, the Bulldogs placed third out of 65 teams in the Virginia regionals and fifth out of 61 teams in the Chesapeake regionals.
Waialua sophomore Armand Gahol liked meeting people from throughout the nation.“Being able to work with professionals was one of the best parts of the competition,” he said. “I got to work with someone who is in the UH physics department.”
The program “gets kids interested in science, technology and engineering,“Lee said.“It gets them to work hard and get prepared.This is the biggest, most life-changing experience in high school.”(Their specific mission was to build a robot that hurtles a 10-pound ball, 40 inches in diameter.)
Under Lee’s direction, the school has participated in robotics events since 1999.
For more on the team’s achievements, log on to www.waialuarobotics.com
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