Help these young local robotics engineers get to the World Championship

Just months ago, the members of team Fresh T.E.C.H had little to no engineering or robotics experience. But that didn’t stop them.

The team comprised of four D.C. students worked three days a week for six weeks in the Living Classrooms lab to build their robot. They then won first place in the FIRST Chesapeake Greater DC District Competition in March, and held their own in the FIRST Chesapeake Regional Competition in Richmond, Va., this past weekend. Now the team is on its way to the World Championship in St. Louis.

“We are so proud that all of the students’ hard work has paid off like this,” Dominique Skinner, Director of the Robotics Program, said in a statement. “This is the first experience these students have had with robotics and their commitment and hard work is eclipsed only by their enthusiasm.”

Team Fresh T.E.C.H (which stands for Technology, Engineering, Carpentry and Higher Learning) is part of Living Classrooms’ work in after-school enrichment for kids in D.C., Maryland and Virginia. The team is made up of two boys and two girls in the 7th through 11th grades. And while such success in robotics is a first for these kids, it’s not exactly a first for Living Classrooms — the foundation sent a team to the World Championship robotics competition last year as well.

In St. Louis later this month Fresh T.E.C.H will be competing against 400 teams from around the globe. Living Classrooms is currently looking for donations to help the team travel to the competition — you can donate on the Living Classrooms website and specify “Robotics” when you give.