McGuffey robotics team heads to nationals | News, Sports, Jobs – Warren Tribune Chronicle

WARREN After a successful season competing against various robotics teams, the Titonics will head this week to a two-day national competition at the Liberty Science Center Invitational in New Jersey.

The nine-member team from McGuffey PK-8 School has members from fourth to eighth grade who have been practicing at the school in preparation for this weekends big event.

The school plans to give the team a big sendoff Friday morning with a Warren safety forces escort before it begins the more than six-hour bus trip.

Coach Amanda Colbert said this is the first time any FIRST LEGO League team from the Warren City School District has advanced to this competition.

We are also the only team from Ohio competing, Colbert said.

The team will compete against 42 other teams from across the country.

She said the team began preparing for the season last August and competed at a regional event in December at Warren G. Harding High School, and then won the Core Values Award at the district event at the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland in February.

Colbert said with t]he state selected the team as the representative from Ohio to compete at the national contest because of that award.

She said the award recognizes the team that demonstrates the core values that the FIRST LEGO League aspires to, such as teamwork, cooperation, discovery and innovation.

The FIRST LEGO League Challenge is an international competition organized for elementary and middle school students.

Each August, FIRST LEGO League Challenge teams are introduced to a scientific and real-world challenge for focus and research.

Team members are Zai Cleveland, fourth grade; Cameron Colbert, fifth grade; twins Alexandria and Autumn Dykes, fourth grade; Nora Foster, eighth grade; Daniel Haggerty, sixth grade; Mari Martin, eighth grade; William Sanders, eighth grade; and Donovan Stringer, eighth grade.

Amanda Colbert said the team has a combination of three new members and six former members.

I think what sets our team apart is we are not like most robotics teams. We have team members who excel in so many ways both in academics and athletics and community engagement events, she said.

Team mentor Dr. Alisha Alls said the team members also are together in other school groups and sports teams. She said the team helps with cleanups in the community.

The team has a great work ethic and works well together. When the team comes together, they act like it is second nature with the younger and older team members. They take care of each other. They are like a family, Alls said.

William said this is his first time going to the nationals, with the team practicing twice a week and working very hard. The team will be required to do a presentation with its robot and then take part in the competition, which requires taking part in missions and tasks.

Colbert said the robot must complete as many missions as it can within 2.5 minutes on a playing table. The theme of the competition is energy-related with an oil field, electric car and a power grid, she said.

Donovan said everyone on the team has a chance to program the robot to accomplish the missions.

This is amazing the team has advanced this far. Last year we advanced to state, but it was held virtually, Cameron said.

The team received a Global Innovation Award at state competition in 2022.

Autumn, who is new to the team, said, it is hard to believe we are going.

Zais older brother and sister were founding members of the Titonics team seven years ago, so for him to be on the team and move to nationals, he feels is an accomplishment.

Even though we do have some returning members, it is basically a new team, which is competing in person for the first time in quite a few years. The last few years everything the team has done has been virtual because of COVID-19, Colbert said.

Colbert said while at the competition, the team will spend time visiting the Statue of Liberty in nearby New York. She said many of the parents of team members also are going.

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McGuffey robotics team heads to nationals | News, Sports, Jobs - Warren Tribune Chronicle