On March 16, the Bionic Black Hawks of Bloomfield Hills High School competed in their First Robotics Competition (FRC) district qualifier event in Traverse City. Known in FIRST as Team 2834, the Black Hawks are a Hall of Fame robotics team in their 16th year in competition. FIRST stands for “For Innovation and Recognition of Science and Technology,” and is an organization that runs robotics tournaments to promote educational engagement in STEM.
The event in Traverse City is one of many district level qualifying events run by the the FIRST district in Michigan, one of the largest districts in the country. The competition was one of five competitions in Michigan’s third week of competition across the state. The Black Hawks traveled far from home to visit a competition in the same place as their first event 16 years ago. The Bionic Black Hawks finished Qualifiers in 25th place out of 40 and picked for semifinals. In addition to success on the playing field, the Bionic Black Hawks also won the event’s award for Gracious Professionalism, given at each event to teams that exemplify good morals, support for others, kindness, and a well rounded team. The Black Hawks were also proud to have one of their students, junior Kina Wack, advance as a District Semi-Finalist for the Dean’s List award, which is given to a singular team member who goes above and beyond to embody the principles of FIRST.
Coming home to celebrate, the Bionic Black Hawks have some time to rest and repair before their next event, the Troy District Qualifier, which will take place in Troy from the 22nd to the 24th of March. The Black Hawks are a Hall of Fame team, a previous winner of the Chairmans award (now known as the Impact award), which designates a team that fully embodies FIRST principles and excellence at the World Championship, granting them an invitation to the championship in following years. The Bionic Black Hawks are looking forward to attending the State Championship, and the World Championship event that follows soon after in Houston, Texas.