We are Team 1209, the RoboHornets, from Booker T. Washington High School. Our team is part of an organization called FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), which was founded by Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway. We have been a team for more than 20 years, and our team has grown to over 50 members.
Build Season
Build season begins in early January at the “season kick-off” where we and other FRC teams learn about the new game and its challenges. FRC teams have until competition to build and program their robot. During build season, our team meets three times a week: Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. One of our biggest sponsors, The University of Tulsa, allows the RoboHornets to meet on their campus and use their labs while building the robot. After the robot is complete, the team prepares for competition. This year, we will compete at both the Oklahoma and Green Country Regional.
Read more about our team here. Read more about our 2024 build season here.
Mission Statement
The RoboHornets’ mission is:
- To encourage interest, understanding, and development of skills in STEM and business.
- To promote creativity and teamwork through design, business, and outreach projects.
- To develop life skills through team collaboration, community outreach, and public speaking.
Team Goals
- To teach about engineering, science, and technology through partnerships with mentors who have backgrounds in these fields.
- To inspire students and team members to seek careers in engineering, science, and technology fields as they select college and university-level education.
- To become an ingrained, mainstream program in our school system and to other students through presentations about the overall purpose of FIRST.
- To maintain a 100% high school graduation rate and achieve a 100% college attendance rate.
- To achieve more year-round team involvement and spread the word of FIRST through volunteering with FLL and presenting our robot at the Tulsa Maker Faire and local middle schools.
Technical Goals
- To build a successful, technically challenging, competitive robot through a combination of both mentor and student contributions.
- To increase manufacturing and design capabilities by the use of new technologies, machinery, and equipment.
- To enhance engineering design by building on the strengths of the previous years and improving our capabilities through the use of new engineering technologies.
- To create a detailed plan and schedule for the build season and the upcoming competitions and continue to refine the plan for future years.
- To win a Regional Robotics Competition Title.
FIRST Description
FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a multinational non-profit organization that aspires to transform culture, making science, math, engineering, and technology as cool for kids as sports are today.
FIRST was created to educate students in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). FIRST was founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen and operates the FIRST Robotics Competition in which teams of high school students, sponsored and assisted by local companies and volunteers, design, assemble, and test a robot capable of performing a specified task in competition with other teams. FIRST also runs the FIRST LEGO® League, for children 9-14 years old. Along with this, the FIRST Tech Challenge allows students another opportunity to get involved in FIRST.
FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is a unique varsity sport of the mind designed to help high-school-aged young people discover how interesting and rewarding the life of engineers and researchers can be.
The FIRST Robotics Competition challenges teams of young people and their mentors to solve a common problem in a six-week timeframe using a standard “kit of parts” and a common set of rules. Teams build robots from the parts and enter them in competitions designed by Dean Kamen, Dr. Woodie Flowers, and a committee of engineers and other professionals.
FIRST redefines winning for these students because they are rewarded for excellence in design, demonstrated team spirit, gracious professionalism and maturity, and the ability to overcome obstacles. Scoring the most points is a secondary goal. Winning means building partnerships that last.
Designing and building a robot is a fascinating real-world professional experience. FIRST has raised an interest in STEM fields in schools and communities around the world. FIRST participants on average are twice as likely to major in a STEM field than non-FIRST participants.
Various corporations have cited that FIRST alumni often have a better work ethic and better knowledge of timeframes and engineering than those who have not gone through FIRST.
