While the formal build and competition season begins in January and runs through April; robotics at Umatilla High is a year-round affair. Teams, Confidential and Classified are busy with service projects, advocacy and off-season events year round in addition to supporting younger students. Our most experienced robotics team members mentor younger students in FIRST Tech Challenge, starting in 7 th and 8 th grades, as well as even-younger students in the FIRST LEGO League.
In a recent off-season event, Robo Rewind, team members got to give the 2024 robots one final competition before disassembling them and gearing up for the 2025 season. For members of Classified, the freshman team, it was their first time at an FRC event and they had a great time driving the robot built by the 2024 Freshman team. The event gave them the opportunity to understand the need for quick repairs, well-thought out designs and the thrill of matches. Freshman students were able to cycle through various roles on the team and take turns on Drive, Pit and Scouting crews. Confidential was excited to give Cantor Amadeus, their 2024 World’s competition robot a final run. The team quickly rose to the top of the competition and ended up in the finals for a series of exciting matches. With their alliance partners, Flaming Chickens from Catlin Gable, Shockwave from Glencoe High and Scalawags from Lebanon, the all-Oregon alliance took second place in the tournament.
The success of Classified and Umatilla is thanks to a multitude of local and national sponsors. In the past few years, they have also had a not-so-secret weapon they have on their side: the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Think Big Space. AWS has provided amazing hands-on laboratory and learning spaces to school districts around the world and Umatilla School District has embraced this concept enthusiastically.
For Umatilla, the Think Big Space represented a major upgrade of the strong robotics infrastructure already had in place. Robotics students played a leading role in designing the initial concept and pursuing the grant application that made it possible. The space is especially geared for robotics, with a computer numerical control (CNC) machine for manufacturing parts – an $80,000 piece of equipment the district could not have hoped to acquire without support from AWS.
Robotics may be top of mind for Confidential and Classified, but the Think Big Space is a STEAM learning playground for all Umatilla students, from kindergarten up. While there’s a focus on the technology AWS uses for machine learning and cloud computing, the ultimate aim is to provide the space, tools and guidance to stimulate creativity in solving any kind of problem.
As the new CTE space is built, AWS continues to be a partner to ensure the existing Think Big Space is well utilized and the new CTE space has the equipment and tools ready to expand the learning. Umatilla schools are fortunate to have this resource available to students. Many Umatilla Robotics alumni have gone on to successful careers at AWS, and all students, regardless of their academic strengths or future careers, can benefit from the culture of discovery and innovation it promotes.
Here’s to another year of thinking big!
Learn more here: https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/aws/a-small-eastern-oregon-high-school-is-investing-big-in-robotics-with-help-from-aws
