Osseo Area Schools ISD 279: Osseo Middle School Student Wins Award At The State FIRST Tech Challenge Robotics Competition

Press release from the Osseo Area Schools ISD 279:

February 17, 2022

Osseo Middle School (OMS) eighth grader, Teagan Rivers, and her team B.O.B. were awarded the judges’ award at the state FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) robotics competition. The competition was held Feb. 11-12 at the Washington Technology Magnet School.

FTC is a robotics competition for students in grades 7 through 12 to battle head to head, by designing, building, and programming a robot to compete in an alliance format against other teams. The robots then compete on a 12’ by 12’ field. Each year, the competition is designed to challenge students to think critically and expand their knowledge of the engineering process.

In 2021-22, 168 teams in Minnesota built robots to participate in FTC competitions. Rivers and her team were one of only 48 teams to advance to the state competition after winning two awards in the qualifying tournament.

At the state FTC competition, Rivers and her team won the Judges Award, which is given at the discretion of the judges to teams whose unique efforts, performances or dynamics merit recognition but do not fit into any of the other categories.

“Inclusion is a core value for this team, to be clear,” the judges said. “Learning Computer Aided Design (CAD) and encouraging younger teams are two of their accomplishments in just their rookie year. They are so passionate about STEM. Next year, we know this team will do even more.”

For more information on FTC and to watch a live stream of the state competition, visit their website.

This press release was produced by the Osseo Area Schools ISD 279. The views expressed here are the author’s own.