22 Mar Escondido Charter High School Wins San Diego Regional Robotics Team Competition, Seeks Donations to Help Team Get to World Championships Press Release
Press Release – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Susie Hays
760.458.9201
Escondido Charter High School Wins San Diego Regional Robotics Team Competition, Seeks Donations to Help Team Get to World Championships
All Donations Go to the $27,000 Cost For ECHS to Get to the World Championships
Escondido, CA (March 22, 2017) – The Escondido Charter High School FIRST robotics team – also known as Daedalus – scored a huge victory at the San Diego Regional FIRST® Robotics Competition on March 11th, earning a spot in the FRC World Championship event to be held in Houston, Texas, April 19th through the 22nd.
Sixty-six teams from around the country – and around the world – battled it out at the three-day event that pitted robot against robot and high school against high school. Ultimately, the Daedalus robot prevailed – a great accomplishment for an eleven-student team.
“Although we were successful on the field this year, we’re not here simply to build powerful robots. We’re here to build powerful minds.” David A. Tarr, ECHS Director of Robotics explains, “The robot is just the platform to get us there. Our program is aimed at identifying and strengthening student talents. We want them to learn the processes for successful product development and problem-solving. Ultimately, our students will be the farm team for the high-tech sector, and we want them to be fully prepared to usher in the next generation of robotics and artificial intelligence.”
“I’ve witnessed my daughter grow more confident as she has mastered new skills and learned how to implement them,“ says Reese Johnson, mother of one Daedalus team member. “It’s the same for all of the kids on the Daedalus robotics team. Daedalus is the smallest of all competing teams, but this is a blessing; they’ve learned how to truly work as a team, be responsible, and be able to rely on one another. Add some laughter and you’ve got Daedalus!”
Tarr comments, “You can see from the photos of our team that we are a diverse group, and while diversity fuels creativity, it is unity that builds a strong team. Our students work out challenges by listening to each other‘s ideas, testing out concepts, then rallying around the approach that works the best. This year’s team is also a young team. Almost 70% of our members are new to robotics, but they are highly motivated and dedicated to the FIRST robotics program. Ultimately, this is an immense with for the kids on our team, boosting their confidence and reinforcing the ECHS culture that you really can do anything you put your mind to. Not only that, but we could be more proud of this recognition for our teachers, student body, parents and our tight-knit community, our win is their win.”
With the win in San Diego, the team is now raising the funds necessary to get the team, robot, mentors, and equipment to Texas for the FRC World Championship. Daedalus is in need of $27,000 to pay the entry fees, airfare, and accommodation costs. And with the backing of strong sponsors – ViaSat, Nordson, Hitachi Data System, BAE Systems, D&K Engineering, Booz Allen Hamilton, Cody Russell – 3D Artist, Earth Computer Technologies, Q2Mark and BookMark-It – the team has already raised over $8,300 toward the goal and have launched a crowd funding campaign on youcaring.com.
To help ECHS Daedalus robotics team help get to the FRC Championship in Houston, please visit https://www.youcaring.com/daedalusroboticsteamatescondidocharterhighschool-778268 to donate.
About FIRST®
FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a worldwide organization that combines the excitement of sport with the rigors of science and technology. The Robotics Competition (FRC) is the ultimate Sport for the Mind. High-school student participants call it “the hardest fun you’ll ever have.” Under strict rules, limited resources, and an intense six-week time limit, teams of students are challenged to raise funds, design a team “brand,” hone teamwork skills, and build and program industrial-size robots to play a difficult field game against like-minded competitors. It’s as close to real-world engineering as a student can get. Volunteer professional mentors lend their time and talents to guide each team. Each season ends with an exciting FIRST Championship. www.firstchampionship.org
About The ECHS Robotics Team
Daedalus was created in 2008 as a part of an integrated robotics program at American Heritage Charter Schools which includes: four FIRST LEGO League (FLL) teams in elementary school, one FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) team in junior high, and the flagship FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) team at the high school.
In addition to running our own robotics teams, American Heritage Charter Robotics also host’s tournaments for FLL and FTC teams across San Diego County, bringing in over 400 people for each of their yearly tournaments. The tournaments are run by the students and are considered among the best in the region.
This year, the high school robotics team moved into a new shop in the newly acquired building adjacent to the main ECHS campus. The new shop provided the team with space they needed to work more efficiently and allowed then to implement a 5S organization plan. Along with the new shop, students are now receiving credit for robotics as an elective course.
The new shop and coursework are part of a plan to create additional coursework in the areas of technology and engineering to supplement the school’s already strong math and science curriculum. ECHS plans to offer a new engineering course in the fall of 2017 that will be UC approved as a “g” elective. In addition, several six-week exploratory courses will be offered, leading to additional coursework for the 2017-18 school year. Ultimately, the school has plans to develop courses that incorporate 360-degree video and artificial intelligence instruction.
About Escondido Charter High School
Escondido Charter High School was founded in 1996 by Dennis “Coach” Snyder as a way to offer school choice to the Escondido community. Starting in a local-area business park with 60 students, ECHS has grown to become a highly acclaimed and top-performing public high school, known for excellence in education and an emphasis on student’s character development. Today, ECHS operates at full capacity serving approximately 800 students, including 120 students in the new Flex program. A close-knit school culture has emerged within ECHS, with teachers, students, and parents all working together to improve pupil learning. During its 21 years of service, ECHS has achieved some of the highest test scores in the State of California and has placed graduates into many of the nation’s top universities including Harvard, Stanford, MIT and Cal Poly.
For more information on American Heritage Charter Robotics and the ECHS robotics team, Daedalus, please contact David Tarr, Director of Robotics, at dtarr@echs.org.
###
MEDIA CONTACT: Susie Hays, CMO, Q2Mark