South River Robotics Team Receives Financial Backing

For the second year in a row, the  will compete in a regional competition in March. Only this time, they’ll do it with the backing and sponsorship of JCPenney.

The school’s team, known as the FIRST Robotics Team #1111 , was selected as one of 900 to be financially backed by the national department store chain.

The team members have six weeks to design and build an original robot for the contest, theFor Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Regional Competition. There, the Power Hawks will compete against as many as 60 teams.

“Our team lets high school students build robots and compete with them on county and national scales,” Alexander Molster, the team’s representative, told Patch in an email.

Molster stressed the Power Hawks’ excitement to receive support from JCPenney, whom he called “generous donators.”

The team is in its 4th week of work engineering for its robot and hopes to build upon the outcome of  where they placed 11th out of 60 regional teams.

“Having our students involved in FIRST is not just about increasing education opportunities in science … but instilling well-rounded life capabilities such as self-confidence, communication and leadership,” the team’s head mentor Becki Hutchison in a recent announcement.

The regional contest between robotic wizards will take place March 8-10 at the Baltimore Convention Center.