Powering a Better Future: 1218 – Innovate!

The annual FIRST Robotics season begins with a worldwide reveal of the Robotics Competition theme. Last Saturday, Team 1218 anxiously awaited the drop of this year’s design challenge alongside recent robotics alumni who returned from their top-notch university programs (mostly in STEM!) to be at SCH for the 2023 announcement.

This year’s theme is "Charged Up,” which asks teams to “unlock the power of engineering to transform renewable energy and power a better future.” For six weeks, the team members will work collaboratively to build an industrial-sized robot focused on energy and sustainable development. Team 1218 has already begun to strategize in advance of its district competition on March 18 and 19 at Vale Field House. 

This year marks SCH’s 20th consecutive year of participation in the competition, which has created a close-knit community of hands-on engineering learners, both through FIRST and at SCH. It also inspired the creation of SCH’s engineering curriculum, which has, in turn, says Peter Randall, chair of the Engineering and Robotics Department, "inspired a multitude of students to pursue engineering in college and beyond."

Dominque Regli ’20 returned to SCH for the “watch party” from Johns Hopkins University where she majors in engineering and mechanics. “FIRST at SCH was my absolute favorite thing,” she says. “It taught me my passion and love of collaboration, of STEM, and the power I have as a woman to inspire others.”

Team 1218 alumni voices resonate, years after they graduate from SCH, and they recently shared their advice and perspective with current students in this video.

“The world of engineering allows you to figure out how to solve problems. It translates to so many different fields,” says Ellie Weinstein ’15, a 1218 mentor who was recently featured on Discovery’s “Battlebots.” And, yes, students had a watch party for that, too!

Good luck, Team 1218, and thanks, #SCHalumni, for your support! #SCHproud