On February 27, the school’s EFX Gearcats robotics teams won multiple awards at the First Tech Challenge state championship. The B team advanced to New Englands and the A team to the world championship.

This year marks the Gearcat’s third competing in FTC events. The team, which has expanded to 21 students this year, now competes as A and B teams. 

Assistant Coach Beth Smithey said, “We have students who are really, really passionate about robotics. They are willing to learn CAD outside of class times and teach themselves new skills. When you have students who are that level across the board, you are bound to be successful.” 

Both teams brought back awards from the First Tech Challenge qualifier on February 3 in Vernon, Connecticut. The A team, which is primarily composed of Upper Mids and Seniors, won the Inspire Award 2nd place and placed 5th in their playoff matches. The B team won 1st place overall and the Inspire Award 1st place. 

The Inspire awards are given to the teams that best demonstrate positivity, inclusivity, and professionalism while also presenting a robot design that is both creative and innovative. 

“Winning the Inspire awards shows their rapport with one another, their rapport with the judges, how they interact with one another, and how they are able to answer questions—the judges were really impressed with that,” Assistant Coach Smithey said.

The teams have engaged in local outreach in addition to preparing for competitions. Members of the team taught a weekly STEM course for elementary school students at Salisbury Central School for five weeks this winter. 

The course, “Clip City,” taught students skills such as how to use circuits and CAD. 

Last year, the Gearcats did not advance past the state championship. Miranda Beitel ’25, a member of the A team, said, “This year, we made a lot more changes to our robot and evolved a lot more between each competition, which has allowed us to create the strongest robot possible.” 

This year, at the State Championship on February 17, the A team won the Inspire Award 2nd place and Motivate award 1st place, and the B team won the Inspire Award 3rd place and Design Award 1st place. 

Their performances at States qualified the B team for the New England championships on April 5 in Springfield, Massachusetts and the A team for the world championships, which will be held in Houston, Texas on April 15-22.