Our team had the opportunity to have a personal meeting with our states Governor Asa Hutchinson. The Governor was very impressed with our Team and our message. Here is what he tweeted: @AsaHutchinson Team 5437 Tweet. While we spoke with the Governor we were able to lobby for funding allocated for STEM in Arkansas, and the bill later passed. We consider ourselves very humbled and blessed for this oppourtunity!
After two hard played matches, our alliance has lost in the quarter finals. Great job Teams 3616, 5002, and 5437! Good luck to the rest of the teams competing!
It’s a lot to feed this many teenagers and keep them entertained, lucky for us the mentors took us to All Aboard in Little Rock, Arkansas! We enjoyed watching the trains bring us our food, and it was definitely a cool stop on today’s trip.
Today is load in for the teams attending the 2019 Rock City Regional in Little Rock, Arkansas. Team 5437 is making a stop at the Arkansas Capitol Building on our way to load in. We wish luck to all the teams competing this week all all the competitions! Everyone out on the road, have all safe drive. We look forward to seeing everyone!
This is the first in a series of video’s that we are putting out to educate teams all around the world about the benefit of First Robotics and the “Competition Experience”. Competitions can be overwhelming. We hope to help rookie and veterans alike to never miss an opportunity at competitions.
After two successful years mentoring Rookie Teams (7106 MPV StingerBots and 7568 Tro-Bots), we have decided to introduce the Rocky Balboabots Rookie Arena, a place where rookie FIRST Robotics teams can come for assistance with all their robot and competition needs. We look forward to a future of mentoring more new teams, and happily outstretch our arms, welcoming those who would like some assistance.
Today our team began work on the elevator mechanism for this year’s robot, particularly mentor David Corley and student Josh Reddy. David reached his hand out to our promising student, including him in the process of constructing our robot and passing down skills in project management and implementation. The teamwork between the two was very evident, and many smiles were flashed by not only the participants, but also the onlookers, a sense of inclusion and learning floating throughout the build area. The two spent several hours assembling the design, and a generation gap was bridged through the help of FIRST Robotics. It is moments like these when one realizes just how much being on a team can impact lives and better the futures of many.
At the 2018 Rock City Regional in Little Rock, Arkansas our team received quite the unusual award. Imagine this: You are sitting in the stands with your team, anxiously awaiting to hear your team’s name announced as an award winner. Most of the awards are gone, and they have made it to Judge’s Award. As the description is read, something unexpected happens. It is announced that this year, for this regional, the Judge’s Award would be know as the “Change in State Award” to eminent this team’s work not only in their community, but all throughout the state. The speaker continues reading, and subtle hints are dropped throughout: “Autism Spectrum Workforce Evolution” the biggest hint of them all. You can feel the excitement rising among your peers. Then you hear, “Team 5437 the Rocky Balboabots!” You are ecstatic and rise to your feet, floating on cloud nine as you descend the stairs and high-five students and judges, beaming the entire time.
We are honored to receive this award and we thank everyone who has helped us along the way; our generous sponsors, our community, and those who donated money to our cause.
Congratulations to our friends the rookie team MPV Stingerbots from Mulberry, Arkansas on winning the Rookie-All Star award at the Rock City Regional! They are attending the Houston World Championship this year in April. We are so proud of you, you have come such a long ways this past year! Good luck, we look forward to seeing you there!
Qualification matches begin today at the Oklahoma City Regional. There are teams from five states in America along with a team from Mexico. Good luck to everyone, let’s get this thing started!
Mayor of Oklahoma City
A big thank you to all those who made this competition possible.
