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Team Motto: Tomorrow's Future
Starts with Today's Youth
While serving as Superintendent of the Logan County, West Virginia school district, Brenda Skibo developed a strong relationship and became an advocate of Team 337 (Starbot). When she became Superintendent of Mingo County, she saw an opportunity to impact the students of the district by beginning a robotics program. In 2003, she sent several teachers and administrators to the VCU regional with Team 337 to observe the FIRST program. Despite being three hours from the nearest engineering college, and 2 to 3 hours from the nearest mechanical engineer, the potential mentors saw all the positives FIRST had to offer.
In 2004, with a grant from NASA and support from AEP, approximately 20 students and 4 mentors traveled to Cleveland to compete in the Buckeye Regional as Team 1249, the “RoboRats.” Although the team had a great showing for a rookie team, the RoboRats did not qualify for the elimination rounds.
Building on the 2004
season, Team 1249 entered the 2005 season optimistic about what the
robot was capable of doing. Using multiple autonomous codes, a
design which was able to play the game efficiently, and a strong team
from top to bottom, the RoboRats left for the Pittsburgh Regional with
a top 8 finish on their minds. The team’s performance was almost
flawless. After finishing the preliminary rounds with a 7-2-1
record and a fourth seed, Team 1249 joined Teams 128 and 395 as the
second seeded alliance. Breezing through the quarterfinals and
semifinals, the alliance faced stiff competition from the first seeded
alliance of 365, 868, and 808. After a wiring problem sidelined
395, Team 1708 stepped up to help secure a third match win for the
alliance. In addition to being a part of the winning alliance,
the RoboRats were awarded the GM Industrial Design Award for the
Pittsburgh Regional. Moving on to the Cleveland Regional, The ‘Rat performed well again. The team finished as the captain of the #6 alliance. The alliance was defeated in three matches. Team 1249 also competed for the first time in the Newton Division of the Nationals in Atlanta.
The off season was busy. The robot showed up at many local elementary schools. In conjunction with Team 337, the team made a presentation at the WV Statewide Technology Conference about FIRST. Lego teams began popping up at local schools. FLL Team 3530 competed in its first FLL competition.
2006 brings new faces and new hopes for Team 1249. American Electric Power, the West Virginia Dept. of Vocational Education, the Mingo County Career Center, and the Mingo County Schools return as major sponsors of the team. Eight new team members have added new energy to the team, and Team 1249 is working hard to grow the ideals of FIRST. The team is working with the Toyota Motor Manufacturing West Virginia to offer a LEGO competition at schools local to the facility in Eleanor, WV, and now sponsors one FLL team and four other Lego teams in local elementary schools. 1249 is working with the Graphic Design class to develop graphics and content for this site.
The future looks bright for Team 1249.
