Photo Credit Courtesy of Columbus Community School District Social Media

The Columbus Junction High School robotics team, Wildbot Robotics, will be one of 72 teams to compete this weekend at the FIRST Tech Challenge Iowa Championship in Coralville.

It’s the second year in a row that Wildbot Robotics has qualified for state. In five events this season, the team has posted a record of 14-3, stamping their ticket to the state competition. To participate in the FIRST Tech Challenge, teams must build a robot to compete in a game, which is revealed at the beginning of the season. The game is different each year, and teams must follow a set of rules and regulations when building their robot. 

The team was founded in 2012 by current Columbus Community science teacher and coach Tessa Pugh. She says being involved with the robotics team encourages students to think deeper about how to solve complex tasks, “This is how you develop what I think of as designed thinking. How you think – you have some kind of problem, whether it’s how you’re going to compose an email to a potential mentor, or how you’re going to market your team or ask for money. You have some kind of problem, and then you’ve got to figure out how to organize it. You’ve got to think about what kinds of things I might try, and then you’ve got to see it through.”

The competition will be held this Friday and Saturday, February 27th and 28th at the Xtream Arena in Coralville. The Wildbot Robotics team is made up of team captain Kai Allec, Gannon Holladay, Sammy Valencia, Naomi Allchin, Tate Travis, Morgan Janssen, Everett Allchin, and Jaidev Avila.