On Saturday, September 23, 2017, the West Nassau High School RoboTech Warriors robotics club team hosted the 2017-2018 First Tech Challenge (FTC) Robotics Season kick-off. In partnership with Renaissance Jax, the RoboTech Warriors welcomed 15 robotics teams from across the Northeast Florida region for the opening ceremony and workshop.
Robotics is made possible through funding provided by the Nassau Education Foundation, a nonprofit, whose mission is to provide educational grants to teachers and administrators across Nassau County. Funding for the robotics initiative is a joint effort between the Nassau Education Foundation, the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations and Rayonier.
Over the next four months, teams will work with their coaches and mentors to prepare for this season’s competitions. These competitions open the door for local, state and national travel to learn and engage with their peers as they design, build and program amazing robots; machines that move and perform tasks and compete with other machines.
“It has been amazing to see the robotics club at West Nassau High School grow over the past three years. When the Nassau Education Foundation first provided the grant to West Nassau High School teachers, Karol Siusta and Shari Braddock, we never realized how quickly the club would excel in their competitions,” said Abby Bean, Executive Director for the Nassau Education Foundation. “We salute the dedicated team of volunteer teachers, coaches, coordinators, mentors and support from the community to provide this opportunity for Nassau County students.”
In addition to West Nassau High School, robotics club are in all Nassau County secondary schools and at Bryceville, Hilliard, and Wildlight Elementary schools. Clubs will lead to the development of FTC (First Tech Challenge) and FLL (First Lego League) competitive teams that will go on to participate in a variety of robotics events.
