Robotics preparing for competition

Jenna Johnson, Freelance Writer
March 10, 2017

Many students at West Fargo High participate in Robotics Club where students compete in competitions. Competition starts the first week in January and does not end until later in March.

Practices get more frequent right before competition kicks off, and students get into a harder routine as competition inches closer.

“This year, practices started a couple weeks into school, just once a week. Then, starting at the beginning of January, they are four times a week,” Member Emily Martin said.

The priority is making the robot, but students are encouraged to communicate and have fun with their peers.

“I’ve created a lot of friendships through [Robotics Club] and it’s kind of broaden my horizons as to like different skills and kind of what I want to do when I get older,” Martin said.

Last year in competition, students in Robotics Club to two regional events, at Lake Superior and Iowa.

“At Lake Superior, we were 57 out of 63 teams,” sophomore Seth Ouellette said. “At the Iowa regional, we were five out of 60 teams and led the third seed alliance to third place in the playoff part.”

“I think at first, most students have no idea what they’re doing because they’ve never done anything like this before, and then they start to experience and learn things from our mentors,” Mackowick said.

Students in Robotics Club do most of the work, even though they have professionals to guide them.

“They do a good amount of the programming and the learning behind it, but sometimes you still need to have the person who has the knowledge previously to actually help put those pieces together for them so our mentors do definitely guide them.”Mackowick said.