After your team takes eighth place in the world, where do you go next? For the members of Team RUSH, the robotics team based at Clarkston High School, the answer would be even further.
Last year marked the team’s move to CHS after the district adopted the OSMTech program for advanced math and science studies. The program was originally offered by Oakland Schools and is open to members of the Clarkston and Brandon School districts. In their first year, the team entered their football quarterback machine into competition, eventually making it all the way to the world competition, where they took eighth place.
Now the team has increased in size by nearly 60 percent, with 11 new students joining this year.
Bree Christie, ninth grader at Clarkston Junior High School, said she was originally drawn to the program after seeing the team’s robot active in an exhibition competition.
‘I really wanted to see how robots were designed,? she said, adding that he proclivity toward math made the program seem like a fun alternative for her.
Christie said she is looking forward to entering into this year’s challenge, which spans eight weeks beginning in January, but is a little intimidated by how much time team veterans like Stevie Edmunds say some members commit.
‘Twenty-one hours per week are required but a lot of students put in 40 hours,? Edmunds said. Edmunds, a student from the Brandon School District, is now in her fourth year as a team member and said she always loved the atmosphere, cheering ‘nerd pride!?
‘I get to learn new things everyday… I get to hang out with math nerds,? said Edmunds about why she enjoys the program so much.
With the extra work and challenges come extra benefits as well, with nearly $125,000 in national scholarships available just for students in the robotics competition. That money can be helpful to students like CHS senior Trey Cox, who said he hopes to become an aeropsace engineer and attend school in Florida. Cox said he was drawn to the program by the chance to see a design he worked on become a functioning robot.
The challenges the team faces every year are on several levels however. Besides being pressed for time to turn their idea into a reality, the team has to find financial support for their project and the travel costs involved with the competitions. The team has a collective annual budget of $55,000, 20 percent of which the students need to raise throughout the year. Earlier this year team members donated items for a community garage sale as part of their fund-raising efforts..
All remaining items, which Edmunds described as ‘treasures and trash? are now combined into a single auction event Nov. 18. The event will take place at Holly Greens Storage, located at 10475 Dixie Hwy. in Springfield Township from 8-10 a.m.. At the end, the winning bidder will walk away with literally everything the team has collected. For more information on the event, contact Anthony Lapp at 248-884-3676.