SCH Robotics 'Unearths' New Skills and Several Wins

The first weekend of December was an exciting one for SCH Robotics, as both Lower and Middle School teams took to the competition field in two major regional events—this year’s FIRST theme, FIRST Age, challenged students to explore innovation across STEM and real-world problem-solving for issues faced by archaeologists.

On Saturday, December 7, the Vare Field House buzzed with energy as more than 50 FIRST LEGO League (FLL) teams descended upon campus for the annual FLL Qualifying Tournament and Expo, featuring this year’s game, “Unearthed.” In this challenge, teams explored ways to use science and engineering to study and preserve the past, uncovering solutions that blend creativity, research, and technical skill.

The event featured 30 FLL Challenge teams and 24 FLL Explore teams, each eager to present their innovative ideas to panels of judges. SCH fielded four FLL Challenge teams and eight FLL Explore teams. Every SCH Explore team earned recognition for their achievements, showcasing strong teamwork, thoughtful model design, and inventive problem-solving.

While our Challenge teams didn’t advance as far as hoped, the season represented tremendous growth. SCH doubled the number of competition teams this year—growing from one 5th-grade and one 6th-grade team to two teams per grade. Students learned Mini Python coding, built more advanced robots and attachments, and produced innovation projects that were among the best we’ve seen in recent years. Their work truly embodied the spirit of “Unearthed,” combining exploration with creativity and technical skill.

On Sunday, December 8, it was the 7th and 8th graders’ turn as our three FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) teams traveled to Manheim Township High School for the Lancaster Qualifying Tournament, featuring this year’s FTC game, “Decode.” Teams were challenged to design, build, and program robots capable of completing complex tasks while demonstrating teamwork, problem-solving, and innovation.

Our FTC teams presented their engineering portfolios, robot designs, and team values to judging panels and competed with their uniquely designed and fabricated 18" x 18" aluminum robots. Students competed valiantly, gaining valuable experience that will help them excel at their next event in January at Lincoln High School.

SCH teams also earned notable awards:

• Team 4914 Excalibur (7th Grade) received the Judges Award: “Catapulting to Success.” This award honors a team whose unique efforts or performance merit recognition outside of the standard categories. Judges praised Excalibur’s thoughtful design, testing, and iteration of their three-artifact catapult system.
• Team 26867 Kraken (8th Grade) earned 2nd Place for the Think Award, which recognizes the team that best documents and reflects on their engineering journey. Kraken’s portfolio impressed judges with its thoroughness, clarity, and detailed representation of the team’s season-long progress.