District 214 robotics team winners in more ways than one
An award-winning Northwest Suburban High School District 214 robotics team earned recognition on and off the field of play last weekend.
The WildStang team finished first out of 53 teams competing in the Midwest Regional FIRST Robotics Competition March 7-9 at Credit Union 1 Arena (formerly UIC Pavillion) in Chicago.
But the students also earned a pat on the back from their peers and mentors for assisting a team from the Netherlands, whose robot got stuck in customs at the airport.
The Dutch team was able to use a practice robot developed by the WildStangs - a teacher and group mentor drove back to the suburbs to pick it up, then bring it back to UIC - and students from both teams spent about six hours working side-by-side to wire and program the machine to get it ready for play.
The teams later faced off in an early qualification match.
"They were able to play and they did well for not having practiced with any of our controls," said Jonathan Wong, the WildStang head coach and a career and technical education instructor at Elk Grove High School. "They played the entire day."
The WildStangs, composed of 74 students from all six District 214 high schools, now advance to the world championships April 26-27 in Detroit.
The team, established 24 years ago, previously won world championships in 2003, 2009 and 2011.