A team of students from across Chatham-Kent is gearing up for its first competition of the year.
CK Cyber Pack is comprised of local high school students and adult mentors, part of a non-profit organization called FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) with more than 3000 teams and over 85,000 student members world-wide. The program teaches science, engineering, and technology skills along with an opportunity to foster team work, communication, and leadership.
This weekend, the team is taking part in their first district competition in Oshawa. Bella Dickerson is a grade 9 student from Chatham-Kent Secondary School and says their robot will need to complete specific tasks.
“We have to pick up a ring, shoot it into an 8 foot hatch, and that will give us points,” she explains.
After this weekend’s competition, the team will take part in another regional event in Windsor March 29th and 30th, followed by the possibility of moving on to the national level.
The CK Cyber Pack program was paused during the pandemic, and is slowly rebuilding its membership.
Anne Vandermeer from John McGregor Secondary School says she has been interested in robotics and programming from a young age.
“When I heard of a team for high school kids being able to build robots and all that stuff…I instantly hopped at the opportunity and joined.”
The team is also looking for community sponsors to help cover the costs of supplies, meeting and work space, and travel to out-of-town competitions. Officials say the cost of the robot and competition fees alone can be as much as $15,000.
For more on sponsorship opportunities, email [email protected] or find the group on Facebook or Instagram.
