MCS Students Compete in Robotics Challenge; Named One of the Top 10 Scorers in the World
A local robotics team challenged some of the planet’s most formidable FIRST Tech Challenge competitors at the FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship Tournament, which took place at the COBO Center and Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan from April 24-28.
Team PowerStackers, is comprised of eight students from the Cincinnati and Dayton area. Five of these students are from Mason City Schools, including MHS junior
Kaavya Ramachandhran, sophomore
Rayhan Nazir, freshmen
Vishnu Avanthsa and
Brandon Young, and MMS seventh grader
Lakshmi Avanthsa.
Team PowerStackers began by winning five straight matches to earn the title of Finalists in the Edison Division. More than 6,000 teams began the season and 128 qualified to be in Detroit this year. Team PowerStackers ended their season as one of the Top 10 scorers in the world, and as the number one team in Ohio. They were also nominated for the FIRST Think Award.
FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a non-profit organization encouraging children of all ages to have fun in STEM. Each year a new challenge is released with a new set of obstacles and gameplay mechanisms. Every team builds and programs a robot in response to the challenge, and then competes in several high-energy tournaments. In addition to building and programming, students also learn to work as a team, develop Gracious Professionalism (good sportsmanship), hone their business skills, and become adept at the presentation of their ideas.