Best Robotics
A group of 8 PHS students went to Alva, OK on Halloween last week to make a marketing presentation of their newly minted BEST robot. They were led by Senior leaders Dakota Hankins, Jacob Schaefer and Junior Dani Gray to present a booth and be judged on a stand up oral presentation. All grades were represented with additional Juniors Colton Doggett, James Wilson, Jacob Berry Sophomore David Loomis and Freshmen Jacob Hitz. The presentations went well and the group traveled back to Pratt to prepare for the next day's competition.
On November 1st a larger group of 12 competitors traveled back to the Alva Recreation Complex to match engineering wits with another 14 teams from all over Oklahoma in the Heartland BEST Regional Robotics Competition. With construction complete and the approval of head engineer Trevor Hasler a day of scoring points by pushing and pulling game pieces around a short napped triangular piece of carpet commenced. The team rotated through 5 drivers on the day and each driver chose a spotter to help. After a slow start PHS robotics found their groove and upon completing 8 preliminary rounds they secured a spot in semifinals. Following an aggressive strategy in an effort to make finals, points were hard to come by leaving the team with a 6th place competition placing, 2 shy of a finals berth.
It was great season with 7 new Freshman recruits led by 7 departing senior leaders and strong contributions from 6 middle grade problem solvers. Other highlights included a nearly perfect score of 27.3 points out of a possible 28 on an engineering notebook led by senior editor Joseph Loomis. Commendable were the strong presentation scores and practice attendance, that averaged over 9 students each night for 6 weeks.
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