Five local high school robotics teams earned slots at the international FIRST Championships, April 18-21 in Houston, during the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition Greater Kansas City Regional on March 16-17 at the Metropolitan Community College-Business & Technology Campus.

Attended by fans, families, educators and industry leaders, the competition also awarded several teams with honors for design excellence, competitive play, sportsmanship and partnerships between schools, businesses and communities. With the hope of winning one of the several coveted awards, high school students worked with professional mentors to design and build a robot over a six-week period using a kit of parts and a standard set of rules.

The five local advancing teams include Team 1775 Tigerbytes of Lincoln Preparatory High School in Kansas City, Mo., 1986 Team Titanium of Lee’s Summit West High School, Team 1723 F.B.I. of Independence, Mo., Team 5098 of North Kansas City High School, and Team 5801 of Career & Tech Center, Fort Osage, Mo.

Regional Chairman’s Award** (highest award of the competition): 3284 Camdenton High School, Camdenton, Mo.

Engineering Inspiration Award** (second highest award of competition) 1775 Tigerbytes, Lincoln Prep Academy, Kansas City Missouri Public Schools

Regional Winning Alliance:

• Team 5098 STING-R, North Kansas City High School
• 1986 Team Titanium, Lee’s Summit West High School
• Team 1723 FIRST Bots of Independence, Independence, Mo.

Regional Finalist Alliance:

• Team 1997 Stag Robotics, Bishop Miege High School, Roeland Park, Kan.
• Team 5801 CTC Inspires, Fort Osage, Mo.
• Team 3284 Laser, Camdenton High School, Camdenton, Mo.

Rookie All Star Award: Team 6817, Rolla Senior High School, Rolla, Mo.

Team Spirit Award: Team 5126, Park Hill South High School, Riverside, Mo.

Industrial Design Award: Team 2352, Chickasaw Nation Science, Technology & Math Academy, Ada, Okla.

Gracious Professionalism Award: Team 5889, Cascia Hall Preparatory School, Tulsa, Okla.

Entrepreneurship Award: Team 932, Memorial High School, Okla.

Quality Award: Team 1987, Lee’s Summit North High School, Lee’s Summit, Mo.

Creativity Award: Team 5809, Rockhurst High School, Kansas City, Mo.

Excellence in Engineering Award: Team 935, Newton Senior High School, Newton, Kan.

Highest Rookie Seed Award: Team 6886, 4-H Community, Warsaw, Mo.

Imagery Award: Team 2357 Raymore-Peculiar High School

Safety Award: Team 6817, Rolla Senior High School, Rolla, Mo.

Innovation in Control Award: Team 1986, Lee’s Summit West High School, Lee’s Summit, Mo.

Judges Award: Team 1764 Liberty and Liberty North High Schools, Liberty, Mo.