March 20, 2013 at 5:12 p.m.
RHS tech club shows off its robots
RHS tech club shows off its robots
Having just formed their club and - along with being well-behind other well-established clubs from five different states - the crew from Rhinelander didn't exactly have high expectations for the competition. Team members said they just wanted to make sure their robots operated as designed and everyone would have a good time competing in the event.
The team ended up far exceeding expectations, securing a second-place finish, one match short of reaching the First Tech World Championship.
"It came down to a best-out-of-three matches and we ended up losing two of those matches. Had we won that, we would've gone on to the world championships. But even not getting there, these kids should be very proud of themselves. They did a great job," coach Mike Wojtusik said.
"Having been a part of this experience and seeing how it transformed some of these kids, I would very much compare it to a state championship in basketball with us making it to the championship round. It was one of those teaching moments for me."
At the board meeting, the team members demonstrated how their robots work while also talking with the board about their experiences at the competition and building the robots.
Senior Caleb Collar spoke about how the team had to play catch-up, as they got started on building the robots later than the other teams.
"For us, we started a little later so we had some difficulties there. We started working on it in December, where the teams that have done this before get started right at the beginning of the school year (so we're pretty proud of that)," Collar said. "There are restrictions on stored energy devices like springs and batteries and stuff like that, but other than that, we built them pretty much from scratch."
Freshman Adam Engel told the board he really enjoyed the competition.
"It was exciting to see what our robot could do," he said.
As far as the board members' reactions went, their amazed faces and dropped jaws said it all.
Words like "amazing" and "cool" and "impressive" were bandied about as the students showed off their robots.
"It's wonderful to see our students be able to do such positive, fun, varied things like this," Board President Ron Counter said. "Obviously, congratulations are in order, but to see students be able to create something like this, it's truly amazing."
South Park building
Since relocating the Northwoods Community Secondary School to the high school at the beginning of this school year, the board has been trying to decide what to do with the South Park building that used to house the charter.
The board went into closed session Monday night to come up with a plan for what to do with the building.
"The school board continues to evaluate its options with regards to the South Park building," Superintendent Dr. Roger Erdahl said. "One of the requirements is to get the property properly appraised. That's one of the steps that we still have to do."
Erdahl said he hoped to be able to give a more thorough update on the board's plans for the building within a week or two.
Marcus Nesemann may be reached at [email protected].
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