By Stephen Smoot
Moorefield has enjoyed stretches where it dominated on the gridiron and the baseball diamond and has seen Future Farmers of America and 4H teams return home with tons of earned hardware and accolades.
Now that list of Moorefield success stories has to expand a bit to include the surging robotics teams at all of its schools.
The teams compete in competitions held by an organization called FIRST tech. FIRST stands for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology,” was founded in 1989 and, as its website states, “prepares young people for the future through a suite of inclusive, team-based robotics programs for ages 4-18.”
The competitions center around “sports like challenges,” but do much more than build and operate robots. Competitions rate teams on a more comprehensive level, requiring that teams “conduct research, fundraise, design, build, and showcase their achievements.”
Competitions utilize different game scenarios each year. As Adam Sherman, a Moorefield High School senior who serves as president and manager explains “that is so you can’t just make one robot and use it each year.” Teams must “have a new design each year” for different challenges.
This year, teams constructed robots to pick up objects and place them in different buckets. Each bucket has a different scoring level to force operators to use strategy. The games change annually, with the exception of the 12×12 foot area of operation, so that the teams have to construct a different type of robot every year.
Though the Mountain State as a whole has not seen many teams getting involved, Moorefield’s teams, called the JackBots, have represented themselves well at every level of competition.
The high school team last week earned a First Place Inspire Award at the Glen Allen II Qualifier competition. Bonnie Crites, who along with Allison Adkins coaches the teams, said this award means “they pretty much won the whole thing.”
For the high school, the next step lies in district competition in Silver Springs, Maryland. Adkins explained that a win there sends them to a world competition in Houston. She said “I think the odds of earning that selection are high.”
On Dec 7, the elementary, intermediate, and middle school teams traveled to Fairmont State University to compete in the West Virginia State FIRST Lego League championship.
There, the Lady JackBots won the Core Values Award, which recognizes enthusiasm, spirit, and teamwork. A third place champions award was earned by the boys’ team. They won by demonstrating the Core Values while showing both excellence and innovation in Robot Performance, Robot Design, and the Innovation Project. The award entitles the boys’ team to compete in the American Robotics Invitational in Jersey City, New Jersey this coming May.
Moorefield also has won international awards in competitions held in Boston and New York City
The team also earned selection as one of 50 of thousands of applicants to be sponsored by the Department of Defense. REV Robotics also selected them to serve as one of their brand ambassadors.
Teams specialize in different aspects of competition with a business-like split between the production and outreach sides. Some engineer and design the robots for competition while others conduct fundraising, business, and media assignments. This year, the outreach team spoke to United States Senators, West Virginia House of Delegates Speaker Roger Hanshaw, and many others to advocate for not only their competitions, but also for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education.
Sherman said they “talk about what we do, why we do it, and get other people involved.”
He also shared that he got interested in participating six years ago, saying “it got me re-interested in STEM” and helped him develop “an interest in mechanical engineering.”
Much like FFA and 4H competitions, public speaking serves as an important part of competition. “We had to do presentations and talk to judges about what we’re doing here,” shared high school team member Ralph Wojtowicz.
He also said that “I started this in sixth grade. I wouldn’t even look at people, let alone talk to them.” Sherman smiled and added “Ralph went from staring at a wall to talking to Senators.”
Also like 4H and FFA, the life skills developed through these competitions does much to prepare students for what comes next and opens doors to tremendous opportunities. As Adkins explains, “we provide a really good avenue into general life literacy.”
For Sherman, Ralph Wojtowicz, and his brother William, the experience has helped to propel them to success. William Wojtowicz earned six nominations from Congressman Alex Mooney for United States service academies and has also received acceptance to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University with a $7,000 merit scholarship. That institution ranks as one of the top five of its type.
Sherman and Ralph Wojtowicz earned acceptance into the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, the top undergraduate engineering program in the United States. Both earned a $100,000 merit scholarship.
The team’s success and reputation also helped Moorefield secure the opportunity to host a major robotics competition at the high school on Jan 25. Approximately 600 competitors, coaches, and supporters will descend on Moorefield. The public is invited and doors open at 10 AM.
