press release:
Three robotics teams from Highline Public Schools made an impressive showing at the FIRST Seattle Regional robotics competition.

Highline High School’s team, the High Tekerz, won the Engineering Inspiration Award, earning the team an invitation to the world championships in St. Louis.

Skunkworks Robotics, the Aviation High School team, made it to the semifinals but lost by one point in the final match of the tournament. The Skunks took home the Website Award and Industrial Design Award.

Panda Machine from TEC High School on the Evergreen Campus placed seventh out of the 47 teams in the competition, the team’s highest ranking in four years of competition. “Our robot was the dominant defensive robot,” said Panda Machine coach Lindsey Duerre. “Panda Machine kept it simple, stayed focused, and achieved outstanding success this season.”

This will be the HHS High Tekerz’ second trip to the world championships. “It is extremely unusual for a second year team to go two years in a row!” says volunteer Mary Zaches. “To my knowledge this has only been accomplished once before, by Skunkworks.”

High Tekerz team member Jacob Ebey was named one of two finalists for the Dean’s List, an award named after FIRST founder Dean Kamen. The award “celebrates outstanding student leaders whose passion for and effectiveness at attaining FIRST ideals is exemplary.”

FIRST Robotics competition involves 58,000 high school students on more than 2,300 teams across the nation. Teams have six weeks to build their robots out of a kit of common materials. FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) aims to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders.