Lake Fenton Students Earn Spot in World Robotics Competition

Students on the robotics team at Lake Fenton High School recently finished fifth place at the Michigan FIRST Robotics State Competition, earning a spot in the world competition later this month.

On Saturday, the team - called the HAZMATs - earned one of the 27 berths that Michigan fills at the FIRST World Championships held in St. Louis, Missouri April 24-27.

The high school's seven-year-old team has been recognized for many achievements, but this is the first time they have qualified to attend the St. Louis competition, according to a press release from the team.

The mission of FIRST is to inspire youth to be the science and technology leaders of tomorrow by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build their skills, inspire innovation, and foster well-rounded life skills including problem solving, communication and leadership.

In the competition, teams of high school students had six weeks to build a robot that can compete against others. The 2013 Competition is “Ultimate Ascent" and required teams to build robots that can shoot discs into elevated goals and climb pyramids.

The current HAZMAT team has 35 students, including nine seniors, six juniors, four sophomores, and 15 freshmen.