Competition #2 // Longmont, CO

February 7, 2015, Team 974x arrived at Longmont Central Elementary School at 8 in the morning. It was a fantastic day, with blue skies, hardly any clouds, and the temperature was pretty warm, too. The team brought in their robot to the pit area in the school cafeteria and began to get situated for the long day ahead. The judges came over to the table where the boys were, and their robot was inspected. One of the judges asked if the boys would be willing to share any spare parts with other teams if need be, and quickly and confidently they replied, “Yes! Freely we have received, so freely we’ll give!” With that, the boys finished inspection, and prepared to play!

The playing fields were set up in the school’s gym, with bleachers against the wall. The team, along with their alliance team, waited at the queueing table for their turn to play. When the time came, they set up their robots on the field, making sure the machines were in the proper spaces, and waited for the “GO” from the emcee! Chazak used a lot of teamwork with the alliance teams throughout the day, and most of the time they scored the highest combined score because of it. They made good use of communication, and worked together as best as they could. When they made mistakes, or things didn't go exactly as planned, they made the best out of it.

During the robot skills challenge, where the robot drives autonomously, Team 974X scored a new high score of 144 points! The boys, their families, and the onlookers in general were super excited! Throughout the day, as the competed with other teams, and performed the skills challenge alone, Chazak did a great job of working through challenges, using teamwork, and being a good sport. It was worth it, too, because as the day came to a close and the closing awards ceremony progressed, Team Chazak was awarded the following awards:

• Teamwork Champion Award

• Robot Skills Award

• Robot Programming Award

• Overall Excellence Award

The team was super excited to win these awards, and looked forward to the next competition and the opportunity to try new ideas and grow. They were proud of what they had accomplished, but were looking forward to what the next competition would bring!