The KHS Robotics Team competed at the Red Devil Polar Blast in Evanston last weekend. Pictured: Trenton Skidmore and Tucker Erickson of Team 10007A (not pictured are Collin Smith and Ray Haslam) holding trophies for Excellence and Design awards, Shelby Swann of team 10007D (not pictured are Shelbie Price, Sammi Butler, Savannah Hall and Sable Abeyta). Back row: Darren Smith and Jon Platt of Team 10007B (not pictured is Matthew Garver). Also not pictured are at-large team members Brandon Zobell and Maisey McRoberts.

On Saturday, Jan. 19, Kemmerer Robotics Team 10007A, represented by Trenton Skidmore and Tucker Erickson (unable to attend were Collin Smith and Ray Haslam), placed second in the Red Devil Polar Blast Tournament in Evanston.

For the first time in Kemmerer Robotics’ five-year history, the team won the Design Award and the coveted Excellence Award.

The Excellence Award is the highest award in a VEX Robotics Competition. This award is presented to a team that is a strong contender in numerous award categories. Excellence winners must have a well-written engineering notebook, score well in Design Award criteria, and rank well in tournament qualification matches, robot skills challenge and other judged awards including interviews, thus exemplifying an overall high-quality VEX robotics program.

The robotics team is one of several learning opportunities made possible by grants from the local industry provided to support STEM programs at Kemmerer Junior-Senior High School. ExxonMobil helped start the program in 2014, which has continued support by the KJSHS administration. Westmoreland Kemmerer Mine recently donated two competition arenas, and the Exxon Foundation employee volunteer program donates money for time spent by Matt McRoberts and Nelson Smith, who assist team members as they program their robots.