FIRST WASHINGTON PAYS AIRFARE

Shelton High Robotics Team Will Reimburse

Since fundraising did not cover expenses prior to the departure, FIRST WASHINGTON [Robotics] purchased airfare tickets for the Shelton High Robotics Team.  The team is grateful for this help with their cash flow and will continue fundraising activities.

FIRST WASHINGTON inspires Washington State youth by engaging them in exciting mentor-based FIRST programs that build science, technology and engineering skills, inspire innovation, and foster well-rounded life capabilities such as self-confidence, communication, and leadership. FIRST WASHINGTON organized nine district high school competitions and the Pacific Northwest Championship.  FIRST WASHINGTON  also conducts competitions for FIRST Tech Challenge (7th-12thgrades), FIRST Lego League (4th-8th), and Junior FIRST Lego League (K-3).

SHELTON HIGH ROBOTICS TEAM HEADS TO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Team Needs $9000 More to Reach $28,000 Goal

Shelton WA, April 17, 2017– Team 5295 will compete at the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) World Championship April 20-22 in Houston.  Costs are higher than anticipated: $5000 Entry Fee, $11000 Air Travel, $9000 Hotel, $1400 Food and $900 Car rentals.  Donate at http://frcteam5295aldernatingcurrent.blogspot.com/search/label/Donate or send fund-raising ideas to Andy Hospador (360-426-0741; AndyH3626@gmail.com), or AlanWalker@earthlink.net (253-852-4002).

Team sponsor DragonflyMediaNW.com created exciting video highlights of the Shelton High Robotics Team.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWWoZDRY91c.

Watch the April 20–22 World Championship at https://www.firstchampionship.org/watch-live. Finished matches are posted at https://www.thebluealliance.com/team/5295. The Shelton High Robotics Team competes as Team 5295 in the Newton division against teams from Brazil, China, Israel, Mexico, Turkey, and the United States.

There will be 400 FRC teams competing in six divisions named for famous scientists: Carver, Galileo, Hopper, Newton, Roebling and Turing.  The division winners play the finals Saturday April 22^nd on the Einstein field.

After the competition, on Sunday April 23^rd the Team will tour NASA Johnson Space Center with a woman space scientist arranged by Jeff Slakey of KMAS & iFiberOne.

FIRST™ Robotics was started in 1989 by inventor Dean Kamen to make science a sport.  Kids have so much fun they do not realize they are learning how to solve problems via critical thinking.

In Mason County, there are FIRST Lego League robotics teams at Olympia Middle (6-7) and Pioneer (4-8) Schools for the grades indicated.

Students competing at the World Championships are team captain Jaeden H., Abbie A., Carolynn C., Dylan R., Kiery E., Jacob H., Kirstin G., Robert G.-A., and Tristin N.  The adults attending are Coach J.Wright, A.Walker, A.Hospador, F.Newby, K.Hansen and R.Clarey.

See the latest team news at https://www.facebook.com/AldernatingCurrent5295.

SHELTON HIGH ROBOTICS TEAM QUALIFIES FOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Small Rural Team Finishes 5th at Northwest Championship

Shelton WA, April 8, 2017– The Shelton High Robotics Team can compete at the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) World Championship April 19-23 in Houston, Texas.  The team needs to raise $20,000 as soon as possible. Visit http://frcteam5295aldernatingcurrent.blogspot.com/search/label/Donate to donate or contact Andy Hospador (360-426-0741; AndyH3626@gmail.com), or AlanWalker@earthlink.net (253-852-4002). Students on the team are raising funds by selling $5 tickets for the new “Fast and Furious” movie to be shown Saturday April 15th at 10AM at the Shelton Cinema.

 

Team sponsor DragonflyMediaNW.com  created exciting video highlights of the Shelton team.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWWoZDRY91c .

 At the Pacific Northwest Championship held in Spokane at Eastern Washington University April 6-8, 4-H Team 5295 “Aldernating Current” finished 8th after twelve qualification matches. Based on scouting all 64 teams, the Shelton team selected Spokane Team 2147 “CHUCK” and Wilsonville, Oregon Team 1425 “Error Code Xero” as its playoff partners. The alliance lost in the quarterfinals. The Shelton team’s new scouting plan was based on advice from the team’s sister 4-H Grays Harbor County Westport Team “Fishy Business Inc.”, which qualified for the 2017 & 2015 World Championships.  View  matches at   https://www.thebluealliance.com/team/5295  .

 

Eight students competed:  Team Captain Jaeden H., climber Kiery E., Safety Captain/pilot Jacob H., driver Tristin N., drive captain Carolynn C., gear loader Kirstin G.,  scout Robert G.-A., and scout James C.,  guided by six adult volunteers: scout R.Clarey, pit crew K.Hansen, scout A.Hospador,  scout F.Newby, scout A.Walker, and Coach J.Wright.

 

The Shelton High Robotics Team would not have qualified for the World Championship without the help of Team 5450 “St. Helens Engineering and Robotics Club” who donated a gyro and programming, which keeps the robot travel in a straight line. Team 4450 “Olympia Robotics Federation” mentors Team 5295 since co-founding it in 2014.

See the latest team news at https://www.facebook.com/AldernatingCurrent5295 .

Auburn Senior High School District Competition Mar31-Apr2: SHELTON HIGH ROBOTICS TEAM HEADS TO NORTHWEST CHAMPIONSHIP

Longshot Finishes 3rd in Auburn (36^th Last Year)

Shelton WA, April 3, 2017– The Shelton High Robotics Team qualified for the April 6-8 Pacific Northwest Championship, featuring the top 64 Oregon and Washington FIRST™ Robotics Competition (FRC) teams, held in Spokane suburb Cheney at Eastern Washington University.  All competitions are open to the public and typically draw hundreds of spectators.  Matches may be watched live at http://www.firstwa.org/ . Completed matches may be viewed at https://www.thebluealliance.com/team/5295 .

Competing as 4-H Team 5295 “Aldernating Current” at the April 1-2 district competition at Auburn Senior High School, the team completed the 12 preliminary matches with an 8 – 4 record and advanced as the #7 playoff alliance. Alliance Captain Carolynn R. used the team’s excellent scouting to decline an offer to join the #5 alliance, and built a successful alliance with the #14 Team 2412 “Robototes” from Sammamish Senior High School in Bellevue and the #15 Team 3219 “TREAD”, the host Auburn team. The team’s new scouting plan was based on advice from the team’s sister 4-H Grays Harbor County Westport Team “Fishy Business Inc.”, which qualified for the 2017 & 2015 World Championships.  To help prepare Olympic Middle School students added 2016 performance data on all 35 teams competing at Auburn into the new scouting sheets.

The Shelton High Robotics Team began the playoffs with the highest alliance score of the entire weekend upsetting the #2 alliance with a 2-0 quarterfinal victory (best two-of-three match). The team earned an excessive score 100 point bonus in a quarter of its matches. The team also had the high score at its Mount Vernon competition March 18-19 where it placed 7th. Team Captain Jaeden H. said “I believe that the team has gained knowledge and learned from the past experiences and is a reason why we did so well.”

The Shelton High Robotics Team also won the Spirit Award at the Auburn Senior High School competition.

Nine students competed at Auburn (Abbie A., drive captain Carolynn C., pilot Dylan R., safety captain and pilot Jacob H., Team Captain Jaeden H., climber Kiery E., gear loader Kirstin G., Robert G.-A., and driver Tristin N.) guided by six adult volunteers: R.Clarey, K.Hansen, A.Hospador,  F.Newby, A.Walker and Coach J.Wright.

The $4000 Spokane travel cost will be eased by a recent Skokomish Tribe $2000 award to the three Shelton School District robotics teams, an $1100 pledge from 4-H Mason County, $468 students raised in car wash and concession work, and $100 from AlphaTest, one of 32 team sponsors.

Mount Vernon High School District Competition Feb17-19: SHELTON HIGH ROBOTICS TEAM SUCCESS

Underdog Team Finds Their Mojo

Shelton WA, March 21, 2017– Shelton High School Robotics Team competing as 4-H Team 5295 “Aldernating Current” beat out many larger teams to finish 7^th at this past weekend’s FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC).

Competing against 27 other teams from across western Washington, Team 5295 and their robot, “Juniper” found themselves in the unusual position of leading in the preliminary rounds before dropping to eighth place, still good enough to earn a spot in the playoff rounds. The competition involved the student-constructed robot placing gears and climbing a rope, as defined by the 2017 FRC Game “STEAMworks”.

The playoff competition resulted in a 7th place finish which team leaders say is encouraging for the small rural team financed on a shoestring budget. The success of the team at the Mount Vernon competition is especially meaningful as the team was short two key members, the students were limited in competition experience, and the group’s preparation practices were held at a neighboring team’s facility in Olympia.

Playoff Alliance #7: Team 5295 (plaid)---Team 360 (blue)---Team 4682 (green)

Prior to the competition, Kiery, a SHS senior and third-year team member said "We are ten times better than we were two years ago."
 

The eight-member team has two seniors, two juniors and four sophomores.   Some of the teams the Shelton crew compete against are five times that size.  “Every one of our students is essential to the team and its success,” stated team mentor Alan Walker, a graduate of Shelton High himself some years back.

The next competition for the Shelton High Robotics Team will be April 1-2 at Auburn Senior High School. The weekend competition is open to the public and draws hundreds of participants and spectators. Andy Hospador, a team mentor since 2015, said “We’re short of money so we are driving over and back each day.”

If this success continues, the team will compete at the Pacific Northwest Championship held in Cheney at Eastern Washington University April 6- 8.  The $4000 travel cost will be eased by a recent $1100 pledge from Mason County 4-H, and use of a portion of a $2000 donation from the Skokomish Tribe to Shelton School District FIRST™ robotic teams, which includes Team 5295 and two FIRST™ Lego League teams.