The FIRST Tech Challenge robotics program at Central Middle School is having one of its most successful seasons since the program began more than three years ago.

This year, CMS has nearly 50 students who are on six teams -- "Ground Zero" Team 9078, "Ice Breakers" Team 10397, "(Insert Name Here)" Team 10471, "Quantum Mechanics" Team 10398, "Team Tec Man" Team 11949 and "Octobots" Team 11937.

For the first time, the program has four teams that qualified to go to state; all of the teams made it to the elimination rounds in at least one of their tournaments and five of the six teams were captains in final matches when robotics teams select other teams to form an alliance, according to Gail Silewski, FTC coordinator at CMS.

Quantum Mechanics, Icebreakers, Team Tec Man and Ground Zero are the teams competing in the state tournament on Feb. 11.

"I'm looking forward to seeing other teams and how well we can do," said eighth-grader Pranav Kartha.

This years challenge, Velocity Vortex, involves robots being able to get points by shooting wiffle balls into one of two standing circular targets; pushing balls into two corner goals and pushing buttons to light a beacon. The teams started meeting on Sept. 10 and competed in their first qualifying tournaments in November.

When asked about why this year has been successful, the students and their mentors gave several reasons.

Justin Seidler, one of the adult mentors, said members of a team that went to the state tournament last year were split up and put on five of the six different teams. This allowed the experience gained from competing last year to be spread through the whole program.

"I think that the students that were in it last year have really stepped up into a leadership role and have helped guide the newer members so that everybody can be involved," added Katy Olson, a Talon Robotics team member and high school mentor.

Silewski said the mentors also spent more time training students ahead of time so kids had a larger base of knowledge. The students learned about 3D printing and the different stages of building a robot. The high school mentors also have a wider range of skills and are able to provide help with a variety of challenges.

Eighth-grader Luke Schreifels believes this year's challenge is having an impact on the teams' successes. He said it's easier to score more points with the Velocity Vortex challenge.

"The challenge last year, the main scoring was super difficult," he said.

Eighth-grader Joe Brown competed at the state competition last year and said this year he'll have fun going with a new team and experiencing a new challenge. He said last year he learned the importance of keeping supplies organized and having enough spare parts.

"With the state meet, it kind of feels more important because not every team is going to this," he said. "It's fun to see all the teams that are really, really good."

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CMS robotics program soars - SW News Media