HONOLULU, HAWAII – After an exciting three days of competition, the 2012 FIRST Championship robotics competition ended today with Kalani High School receiving the Making FIRST Accessible Award. The Kalani Falcon’s outreach into the community and ability to introduce robotics to new people of all ages, were a few of the reasons they recieved the award. Total, seven Hawaii High Schools competed in the event in St. Louis, from April 25-28. Waialua High and Intermediate, Kealakehe High School, Island Pacific Academy, Punahou School, Baldwin High School, Kalani High School, and Kohala High School competed at the Edward Jones Dome.
All of the teams competed well in their division, and Waialua High School made it to the semifinals of the Archimedes division, representing Hawaii well. Waialua has won the FIRST Hawaii Regional two years in a row, and was awarded the 2011 Championships Chairman’s award last April.
“The interest in STEM education that this program instills is not only important for preparing these student for their future careers, it is important for Hawaii, as they are future leaders of our state. Hawaii has a bright future ahead with these students at the helm,” said Corrie Heck, Hawaii ROC Coordinator. “To say the least, Hawaii can be proud with how these students represented our state.”
The teams will be flying back to Hawaii tomorrow, and preparing for the next robotics competition at the Hawaii Botball Tournament on May 12 at the Hawaii Convention Center.
More on the web: usfirst.org and hawaiiroc.org.
Blake Parsons is the Media Coordinator for ROC-Hawaii