This past week, Darlington’s Robotics team traveled to St. Louis to compete in the FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship. This global event is the culmination of over 300 regional tournaments with 4,450 teams and over 45,000 student participants. As one of only two Georgia teams that qualified, the DarBots went head-to-head against 127 of the best programs from across the U.S. and 12 countries.
After three days of competing, the DarBots finished in the middle of the pack with a ranking of 37th in our division. The ingenuity and dedication of the teams we competed against in the world championship far surpassed anything that we have seen in Georgia.
Yet, because FIRST competitions deliberately promote sharing best practices and peer mentorship, our students learned a tremendous amount about robot design, programming and strategy. Coach Malmberg and I were also afforded invaluable professional development opportunities, gleaning ideas for next season from fellow coaches and mentors.
Participation in team robotics offers students a chance to manage a remarkably difficult project from start to finish. It also offers mentors a unique opportunity to facilitate experiential learning and to delve deeper into the latest technology. Team success in this competitive environment is traded for months of skill-based training as well as a hearty share of failure and frustration.
We appreciate the generosity of Tiger Pride for helping us provide this opportunity to our students. Know that we are eager for next season and for another opportunity to compete at the highest level.
Go DarBots!
Click here to read a news story about the Robotics team's placement in the competition.
