The Reed City High School Robotics team proved it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from; you can achieve greatness.
It all starts in January when robotics teams around the world are given the exact outline of what their robot needs to accomplish.
“This year’s game is called rapid react. And what we had to do was design a robot to shoot these large tennis balls into an upper goal or lower goal, and then at the end of the game, we had to climb a series of four bars,” said Brad Smith, Head Mentor for Reed High School City Robotics
After seven weeks of building and programing by Reed City High School students, Taz 2.0 was ready to compete, cruising through two district competitions before making it to states.
“When we left the state competition, we were ranked as 84th, and the top 64 teams for Michigan go to worlds. So we were kind of on the edge,” said Smith. “We didn’t know who was opting in and out from the state to go to the world competition. We were figuring we’re too far out, and we were not going to go.”
But then the team got a phone call they only dreamed of getting, telling them they made it to what’s known as the world’s, meaning they’d face robotics teams from the U.S. and beyond.
“We went there, and I was just kind of like, I’ll drive and see how good I do. And where we end up is where we end up because I wasn’t even expecting to go,” said Nate Huss, Senior on Reed City High School Robotics Team.
But they did better than expected, winning their division and placing fourth overall.
“It is credited to our driver. He’s a heck of a driver this year,” said Smith.
“It was was an incredibly emotional, proud moment for all of us to be our first time. This was our first time being at worlds,” said Jestin Vansoyoc, Assistant Mentor, Reed City High School Robotics Team.
The team bringing lessons they’ll carry with them beyond high school.
“Pretty much introduce me to the whole stem world and what you can do with a robot and your hands and what you can build. And I thought that’s what I want to do for a living,” said Huss.
“I want to be an electrician. And it helped me with getting my hands on tools and that sort of thing,” said Naomi Fink, Sophmore on Reed City High School Robotics Team. “It also helps with people skills because you meet many different people when you’re in robotics.”
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