Robotics Team Qualifies for Worlds

By Hanna Qira, Sam Vaught, and Ekaterina Zelenin

WHHS could certainly count on its amazing Robotics Team which recently qualified to enter the World Championship.

After successfully gliding through a series of challenges in a Super Regional competition held at the University of Scranton, the Robotics Team’s excellent work qualified them to enter the FIRST 2017 Robotics and Technology Championship, hosting schools all across the country.

This Championship is said to hold up to a whopping 400 teams. It will take place in St. Louis, Missouri from April 26-29. Unfortunately, the tuition into the contest will require payment that many high schools, such as WHHS, do not sponsor.

According to Robotics competitor Riya Patel, the Robotics team needs around $10,000 to move forward. Included in that cost is the approximate $1,000 entrance fee, hotel, transportation, and accommodations.

Teacher and Robotics Team adviser Mr. Yost expressed his wistfulness on the possibility of WHHS not being able to attend the competition.

“With the amount of people and parents that would have to go, it would cost thousands of dollars,” Yost says. “On top of that we need to make changes to the robots. We’re over extending as it is… If someone could come up with a bag of money….then that would change things. I can’t say right now if we’re going to go or not. We need to come up with all the pros and cons.” said Yost.
Needless to say, the team and its adviser have some deep pondering left over this matter. Although Yost is open to the idea of fundraiser, it would most likely be too short of a timeframe before the deadline of entering the Championship. At the moment Yost remains hopeful in talking to the Board of Ed for a possible fund to continue with the tournament.