Hello all!

We just got back from the 10,000 Lakes competition in Minneapolis, and we have some very exciting news to share: we are going to Worlds!!! That’s right, on April 18th, we’re leaving Minnesota for the World Championship in Houston. We are all very excited and just as busy, but first, we need to talk about everything that has happened in the past week.

The competition began with practice matches on Thursday. Just like in Duluth, we had our scouts talking to other teams and carefully watching robots compete, our pit crew making improvements and repairs on the robot, our drive team beautifully driving our bot, and our media crew documenting the whole experience. Unlike Duluth however, we had an entirely new robot, named Tyche! Just like Moira, Tyche is quite fast and maneuverable, but unlike Moira, it can score pieces anywhere, meaning more potential points. Many of Tyche’s parts were manufactured by Quality Tool and/or anodized purple by Twin City Plating, two of our amazing sponsors.

Qualification matches began on Friday, and we managed to perform quite well. Our drive team quickly mastered the new and more complicated robot, and our performance kept getting better and better as the day went on. After qualification matches finished up, we headed back to Avalon School for a team meeting as well as to eat and appreciate a meal from The Naughty Greek, another one of our lovely sponsors. 

Saturday started a bit late due to a blizzard the previous night, but we all managed to get to the competition thanks to team members giving each other rides, making sure everyone could get there safely. After a few more qualification matches, it was time for alliance selection, during which we got picked by the fourth seed alliance! Together with our alliance, we managed to do very well in the playoffs and placed third at the whole competition, a result we are all very proud of. After playoffs it was time for awards, which were easily the highlight for many of us. After great suspense and anticipation, they announced that our team has won the Impact Award! The Impact Award is the most prestigious award in First. It celebrates the team that has the greatest measurable impact on their members and the community around them, and the winner is invited to Worlds to compete against other teams. We all jumped up and screamed when we learned we had won, and we are now working very hard to get everything done in time.

One of those things to get done is fundraising. We need to raise around $25,000 dollars to get to and compete at Worlds, and we would absolutely love it if you could help us out! Our team is doing a GoFundMe to get us the money we need to help us continue our impact, and if you could support us at all we would appreciate it so much. $25,000 dollars is a lot, but any amount you can give will go a long way. 

We are also hosting an open house fundraiser on April 11th from 6:30 – 8:00 at GRS! We’ll also be hosting it virtually on our Youtube channel, NoMythic2491. Should you attend, you will get to learn more about the team, take a tour of our shop, and meet our team! We would love to see you there.

Overall, we had a very fun and successful competition, and we are greatly looking forward to what is next!