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Spartronics

Spartronics

2020 Season Postponed after successful Glacier Peak event

ALL ROBOTICS Events Postponed until 2021

Postponed FIRST WA Events letter

FIRST WA has made the difficult decision to postpone the remainder of the 2020 PNW District events until the Fall. This means that Spartronics will not be competing in Bellingham from March 20-22, and the PNW District Championship at Eastern Washington University is also on hold until the Fall.

FIRST also has confirmed the cancellation of both World Championships in Houston and Detroit and the suspension of all FIRST Robotics events.

Gov. Jay Inslee of Bainbridge Island announced new community strategies and social distancing plans at a news conference in Seattle to minimize COVID-19 exposure. The state is prohibiting events that take place in King, Snohomish, and Pierce counties with more than 250 people.

And the Bainbridge Island School District announced this afternoon that schools will be closing Thursday, March 12, and Friday, March 13. BISD notes Governor Inslee told districts that they should prepare now for “the possible long-term closure of schools,” and BISD is closing schools “in order for us to continue the planning process.”

The situation is still developing, and as soon as Spartronics has clarity on our plans going forward, we will update everyone on our Website, Social Media, and in this newsletter. The Leadership Team met this afternoon and plans to continue to work remotely on our robot, ATHENA, in anticipation that we will compete this September and October. As for participation in Worlds in mid-April Houston, details are expected to be announced within the next week.

Please note that we have postponed our annual All-Robotics Open House scheduled for March also is postponed. We apologize for the late and sudden cancellations and will try to inform everyone as quickly as possible when events are rescheduled.

[Update: The 2020 Season has been postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak until 2021. More details will be posted as we reconvene later this fall.]

Spartronics Makes the Playoffs, Win Coveted “Engineering Inspiration” Award at Glacier Peak!

Spartronics had a remarkably successful Glacier Peak competition, our first of the year.

While there was certainly an array of mechanical hiccups, our robot ATHENA (Ascending Turreted Hyper Elevating Navigating Assembly) was paired with exceptional Alliances and performed admirably.

Spartronics earned a spot as seventh-ranked Alliance Captain going into eliminations matches. While our team did not make it past the quarterfinal playoff, we finished our first tournament of the year with 8 wins and only 4 losses.

The biggest news at Glacier Peak came after the matches when Spartronics won one of the highest team awards, the Engineering Inspiration Award.

Spartronics has won this coveted award 4 out of the last 6 years, and all but one (2017 Auburn Mountainview) EI award was awarded at Glacier Peak (2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020).

EI recognizes teams who are outstanding in advancing “respect and appreciation for engineering within a team’s school and community.” While we’re very proud of the efforts that earned us this honor, we would have never received this award if we were not fortunate enough to live in such an amazing and supportive community. THANK YOU!

Last but certainly not least, we have more BIG NEWS: Congratulations to team member Darwin Clark and Coach Enrique Chee for their selection as Dean’s List and Woodie Flowers Finalists, respectively. These awards both recognize individuals for their leadership and embodiment of FIRST values, and the Finalist status is a true accomplishment. More information about these awards can be found here.

Coach Chee & Darwin Clark, Congratulations!