The High Tekerz – Highline High School’s 4H and FIRST® Robotics team 3574 – is headed to the FIRST World Championships, to be held April 19-22 in Houston!

On April 8 at the PNW Regional Championship, the High Tekerz received the Regional Engineering Inspiration Award for “outstanding success in advancing respect and appreciation for engineering within a team’s school and community.” This award qualifies the team to compete with their robot, Turbulence, at the championship April 19-22, 2017.

This is the fourth time the Tekerz have received the Engineering Inspiration award at the regional championship, and the seventh time overall (including 3 district level awards) – making the High Tekerz the top recipient of this award in the PNW by a margin of over 2-to-1. At the 2015 World Championship, the High Tekerz received the Team Spirit Award, and are hoping to build on that success in 2017. The Houston Championship event will be broadcast live at https://www.firstchampionship.org/watch-live for those who would like to follow the action from home.

Also recognized at PNW Championships was local Raisbeck Aviation High School student Isabella Torres, a member of First Robotics Competition (FRC) team 1983 Skunk Works robotics team, who received a Regional Dean’s List award which recognizes the leadership and dedication of the most outstanding FRC students and also qualifies her to advance to Houston.

FIRST stands for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology” and its mission is to is to “inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting Mentor-based programs that build science, engineering, and technology skills, inspire innovation, and oster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership.” FIRST is the oldest and largest student robotics program in the world and the FIRST Championship is a life-changing robotics event!

Past championships have even included private concerts by such acts as the Black Eyed Peas, and have been featured in a national television special “i.am.FIRST: science is rock and roll”, narrated by Morgan Freeman and featuring celebrities such as Miley Cyrus, Will Smith, Justin Timberlake, Steven Tyler, Britney Spears, Jack Black, Bono and others.
A big advantage to participating in FIRST Robotics programs is access to exclusive financial help open only to FIRST team members–this year $50 million in college scholarships are available from colleges, universities, and corporations who support FIRST. Most FIRST scholarships are for use at the specific Provider college or university, but some can be used at any school and about 35% can be used for any course of study, not just engineering. Scholarship amounts vary from one-time awards to full four-year tuition.

Learn more about FIRST robotics at https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/frc.

To learn how you can join or support the High Tekerz, email [email protected] or visit http://first3574.org/.

Since 2007, The B-Town Blog is Burien’s multiple award-winning hyperlocal news/events website dedicated to independent journalism.

3 replies on “Highline High’s ‘High Tekerz’ are heading to the FIRST World Championships!”

  1. As a mentor and a Mom of a High Teker, I can’t say enough about wonderful this program is. These kids are taught real world techniques in team work, STEM and practical applications. We would love to have you come see us at HHS in the old auto shop! Meet the team, see the robot (or one of them) in action and make new friends!
    GO HIGH TEKERZ!!!

  2. This program sounds amazing!! Thank for the live link! Will definitely be watching to see how ‘we’ do! Go Turbulence and Burien High Tekerz!!!

    1. FIRST Robotics 3574 High Tekerz Hi friends & family–to make life easier for those following the action on the live feed. The High Tekerz are competing on the Galileo field during Qualification rounds. Our scheduled Qual matches are:
      TH 4/20
      Match Q6-9.10am-Blue alliance
      Q21-11.10am-Red alliance
      Q31-2.34pm-Blue
      Q43-4.10pm-Red
      FR 4/21
      Q55-8.48am-Red
      Q61-9.36am-Blue
      Q77-11.44am-Blue
      Q87-3.04pm-Blue
      Q97-4.24pm-Red
      Q102-4.04pm-Blue
      Follow “FIRST Robotics 3574 High Tekerz” @FIRST3574 on Facebook

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