by Will Granata for The Aha! Connection
Donate to this amazing team at GOFUNDME!
Get excited! Dunwoody High School’s new FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC) team has made its debut in the Georgia qualifiers and blew the competition away. As an underestimated rookie team, Dunwoody WildCat 5e is currently ranked first in Georgia, first in the nation, and seventh in the world out of more than three thousand teams.
At the two competitions, the team has attended so far, WildCat 5e has received multiple awards: two Highest Seeded Rookie team awards, the Finalist Alliance award, and the Quality Award for the quality and robustness of their robot. At Dunwoody WildCat 5e’s inaugural competition in Gainesville, they captained their alliance of three teams into second place of 39 teams, an extraordinary feat for a rookie team. At the competition in Dalton last week, WildCat 5e achieved third place of 35 teams, getting knocked out in the semifinals by the eventual event winners. These achievements are outstanding for any team, but even more so for a rookie team that only has the future to look forward to.
This success and the current FRC rankings have put Dunwoody WildCat 5e in a comfortable position to advance to the state championship, which takes place April 5 through 8 in Athens, Georgia. In order to attend state, and eventually the world championships in Houston, Texas, WildCat 5e needs to raise $30,000, which will be funded primarily through sponsorships and donations. This money will be allocated to improve the robot, finance trips, and fund outreach projects and robots in future seasons.
As rookies, the tasks that the team founders have undertaken are crucial for the future success of WildCat 5e. The team has proven they intend to compete for a long time and make a name for themselves in the FIRST® robotics community. After the competition season, WildCat 5e plans to focus on outreach, work to teach STEM values to the youth of the community, and network with local organizations seeking mentors to help them continue to learn and grow. Through their efforts, Dunwoody WildCat 5e will be able to grow the team beyond the original 20 members so that upon graduation, the torch can be passed to students who are committed to lead the team into the future.
Because of the team’s success, the FIRST® community has begun to know who WildCat 5e is. Now, the team wants the city of Dunwoody to know who they are. These kids have surpassed what is generally expected from a group of rookies, and they do not intend to look back. The team has worked extremely hard to get to the position that they are in now, and the future is bright for them. Dunwoody WildCat 5e hopes you are willing to contribute to the cause. You can contact them at Hello@WildCat5e. You can donate at GOFUNDME
