Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide
Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide
The Forde Files No 136
Members of the Tehachapi HIgh School Cyber Penguins Robotics Team 585 stopped in The Loop office to spread the word about the upcoming auction. From left, Maranda Maliska mechanical; Katilyn Ehrlich, chief programmer; Blake Olson, CAD director, 3-D computer modeling, president of Robot; Luis Munoz, mechanical and design. All are seniors.
Robotics ticket
The first annual Quarter Auction for the Tehachapi High School Robotics Team 585 on Sunday, Dec. 11, will generate funds to operate the 36-member club as well as support the club's outreach to younger robotics teams. Teams are organized in four age levels under the banner of the FIRST Robotics Competition that sponsors an annual, fiercely competitive international competition.
Under the leadership of faculty advisor/science teacher Danielle Evansic, the Tehachapi club mentors a FIRST Lego League Jr. team, ages 6 through 10.
"We take the kids to Legoland," said team member Maranda Maliska. "They compete in the 'Creature Craze Challenge.'"
The THS Robotics team – called the Cyber Penguins -- also work with middle school-age youngsters, training them in the technology of robotics.
The THS Robotics team is looking ahead to the big announcement on Jan. 7, 2017, when the FIRST organization releases the specifications for the year's competition. Thousands of high school students around the world will monitor the 4 a.m. (pst) East Coast live stream to find out what kind of robot they will be building and what new game the planners have concocted. The teams get six weeks to build their robot, which they send off in advance to the site of the regional competitions. The competitors are not allowed to tinker with the completed robot, although they can work on the computer programming.
Proceeds from the Quarter Auction and silent auction will help the sizeable team and chaperones travel to the competitions.
The Quarter Auction (which requires bidders to drop in a quarter for the privilege of bidding on the items) will be from 3 to 6 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 11, in the Tehachapi High School cafeteria.
As an added sweetener, the Robotics students will be selling refreshments and baked goods. Pre-purchased tickets are $5. Payment at the door is $8. Tickets can be purchased from a student or online at https://firsteam585.eventbrite.com.
