[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 63 (Tuesday, May 10, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E846]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               RECOGNIZING LOCAL SCHOOL'S ROBOTICS TEAMS

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                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 10, 2011

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize three local schools 
that have excelled in robotic competitions. These three teams 
participated in the Robotics for Inspiration and Recognition of Science 
and Technology (FIRST), regional tournament in Richmond on April 8-9, 
where 64 teams competed.
  The local schools represented--Highland High School in Warrenton, 
RoboHawk-Team 3373; Fresta Valley Christian School in Marshall, Team 
1731; and Battlefield High School in Haymarket, Team 1885 ILITE squad--
are all local schools and teams that participated in the regional 
tournament.
  The FIRST robotics program offers students a chance to design a robot 
from scratch. Their mission is to ``inspire young people to be science 
and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based 
programs that build science, engineering and technology skills, that 
inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities 
including self-confidence, communication, and leadership.'' The 
students receive a box of parts with no instructions, just a specific 
goal that their robot must reach. Then, the students have to design the 
robot to complete certain tasks for the competitions. The students are 
allotted a six-week period to build their robots and must bag and tag 
them before the tournament.
  The students are responsible for obtaining mentors and sponsors to 
raise the $5,000 that is needed to receive a starter kit from FIRST. 
Their mentors are usually parents who work in the field of engineering 
and are role models and an inspiration to the students.
  At the regional tournament in Richmond, there were three different 
competition rounds. The first round was autonomous, where the pre-
programmed six-wheel robot had to act independently of its operators 
and place rings on pegs in order to gain points. The second round 
consisted of the operators having the robot place tubes on the scoring 
racks. The final and most difficult round, according to the Battlefield 
team, was having a minibot climb up the rack and place tubes at a 
faster and higher rate than the original robot.
  I congratulate all the teams for participating in such a hands-on 
engineering and scientific educational experience, with special mention 
to the Fresta Valley Christian School for making it to the 
quarterfinals of the competition. I also congratulate Battlefield High 
School for placing second in the regional tournament. I congratulate 
and commend the two teams for their participation in the National 
Championship, which was held in St. Louis April 27-30.

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