As technology becomes more and more present in our daily lives, many are deepening their understanding of the ever-evolving technological landscape.
One group of Mullen High School students has been doing just that, spending the past year learning how to build and program their own robots.
Their efforts came to fruition when they qualified to compete in the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC), an international youth robotics competition that celebrates the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) community.
From April 17-20, high school students from all over the world gathered to compete at the FIRST Tech Challenge at the George R Brown Convention Center in Downtown Houston, Texas.
With the help of their alliance partners, BAY Robotics from Wisconsin and Iterative Intentions from California, Mullen won the Jemison division, earning them a coveted invitation to compete in the final four.
Although their alliance narrowly lost in the semifinals, Mullen’s performance greatly surpassed all expectations and demonstrated that they had undoubtedly built and programmed one of the best robots at the tournament.
Mullen High School students Brady (Junior), Thahn-Tam (Junior), JT (Sophomore), Ben (Sophomore), Hadley (Junior), Huy (Sophomore), Grace (Sophomore), and Jacob (Freshman) attended the FTC Championship along with their parents.
Liesel Bohre, mother of freshman team member Jacob, expressed her gratitude for the Mullen High Robotics Program.
“I am personally very grateful for Mullen High School to allow the Robotics program to exist. My son was very excited to participate in this program, even since before he started at Mullen,” Bohre said.
Bohre shared that robotics doesn’t just teach technical skills, but essential life skills as well.
“Robotics is more than just building robots and coding,” she continued. “The program at Mullen has given my son the possibility to keep developing lifelong skills like teamwork, social skills, leadership, problem-solving, professionalism, healthy competition, logical thinking, creativity, confidence, interaction with technology and responsibility. [The program] is even enhancing his college’s applications.”
When asked to describe the experience, Bohre said, “The experience of going to the international competition ‘First Championship’ in Houston, Texas was unforgettable. I had the unique pleasure to witness a group of Mullen High School students from different grades performing and behaving as true professionals, overcoming challenges, engaging with others from all over the world, working together as one unit and collaborating with each other.”
“I could not express in words the pride I feel for each and every member of this wonderful robotics team,” she concluded.
To learn more about Mullen High School’s Robotics Team, visit their website.
The school will be making plans for their 2024/2025 season soon. If you have a student interested in joining the team or learning more about Mullen, please fill out this inquiry form.