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.

In 2006, we added Southern WV Resources as a sponsor and attended a new region. We went to the Palmetto Region at the University of South Carolina as well as the Pittsburgh Regional. In Pittsburgh, we finished with a 6-8 record. We were eliminated in the semi finals by the eventual champions. In Palmetto, we had a record of 4-7 and drafted by the 6th ranked alliance and were eliminated in the quarter finals. 

The off season as again busy with lots of testing and trying new drive systems and mechanical devices.

2007 brought some excitment to the RoboRats as we returned to Pittsburgh and Palmetto. We had a record of 12-10 in Pittsburgh and were eliminated in semi finals by the eventual champions. In Palmetto, we had a record of 8-7 and also eliminated in the semi finals. We won the Imagery Award in Pittsburgh as the team that best fit the imagine of FIRST.

In 2008, we once again competed in both the Pittsburgh and Palmetto with the Palmetto switching to Clemson University. Pittsburgh had us with a record of 10-6 and ranked 8th. We were elminated in the semi finals. Palmetto had a record of 10-6 also and drafted by the 6th seeded alliance and were eliminated in the semi finals. We won the Delphi Driving Tomorrow's Technology Award.

2009 brought on a new sponsor in International Coal Group. We competed in Pittsburgh and again in Palmetto. Pittsburgh had record of 7-6-1 and drafted by the 8th seeded alliance and eliminated in the semi finals. Palmetto had record of 5-4 and for the first time, we were not drafed for the chamionship rounds.

2010 brought a change for the RoboRats in that we attended the new North Carolina Region at NC State University. We also attended what is our home region, Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh record was 7-5 and drafted by the 8th seeded alliance and eliminated in the first round by the 1st seeded alliance. In North Carolina, we had a record of 5-5 and once again were not drafted for the championship rounds. We were ranked 21 out of the 42 teams in attendance but were not drafted.

2011 brings change again as we will attend yet another new region in the Smoky Mountain Region in Knoxville, Tennesse.