DHS Robotics Team earns top state ranking

Denison High School’s talented Robotics Team placed among the “best of the best” in Texas and New Mexico for the eighth year in a row, earning a prestigious 3rd place State ranking out of more than 700 teams.

“This was our best finish in the history of Denison Robotics,” said DHS Computer Technology teacher and Robotics Team sponsor Spencer Barnett. “Each year the competition starts out with around 700 teams representing public and private schools of all sizes from Texas and New Mexico. Those teams first compete locally within their county or district, which in our case is Collin and Denton counties, at the Area contest. We took first place in that competition, which qualified us for the State championship for the 8th year in a row.”

According to Barnett, a total of 72 teams made it to the State championship, where Denison quickly advanced to the Final 4 round, ultimately earning a 3rd place finish.

“We are extremely proud of these kids, both as individuals and team members. A third place finish is awesome,” said Barnett. “They invested hundreds of hours designing and building their robot, which performed exactly as it was supposed to, and they worked together so well as a team. They’re an amazing group of very smart, talented students.”

Aaron Pridemore, Robotics co-sponsor who teaches Engineering Design, Ag Mechanics and Robotics at DHS, says the team has worked hard to combine students’ minds with their mentors’ minds to build the best robot possible.

“CrossFire was the theme for this year’s competition,” said Pridemore. “The kids were charged with the task of building a robot to complete various firefighting related tasks…as well as create an Engineering Notebook that explains everything that went into building and planning the robot, such as prototypes, measurements and creative ideas. Hannah Jansen, along with some of our top Robotics students, put together a Powerpoint presentation that satisfied the Marketing Presentation requirement. The goal has always been to climb the ladder…to build a better robot and place higher each year, and that’s exactly what we’ve done. We hope to continue that tradition next year.”

Prior to designing and building the robot, the students met with local fire department officials to learn about their equipment and what they do.

“The kids had a lot of fun trying out the different hoses, wearing the oxygen masks and learning how each piece of firefighting technology works,” said Barnett. “This experience allowed our team to further research real life firefighting and brainstorm ideas for the competition. This was definitely our best year in terms of community support and local business involvement. We’re just extremely grateful to everyone who helped us achieve this high honor.”

The 2017 Robotics Team members are: Ryan Acevedo, Travis Anderson, Nathan Ascher, Aspen Boswell, Jackson Brandt, Avery Crawley, Nolan Craze, Stuart Craze, Easton Davis, Allyson Edgette, Keghan Edgette, JT Eskue, Chazric Freeman, Steve Garcia, Ryan Gunter, Jacob Harris, Julian Harris, Hailey Heaton, Will Horning, Hannah Jansen, Jaxton Kilpatrick, Reece King, Allan Kinghorn, Mitchell Kisel, Izzy Lewis, Jacob Lowe, Joseph Mallillian, Matthew McInnis, Thomas Monsivais, Nick Moreno, Daniel Moya-Carpio, Gabe Mulkey, Zachary Owens, Michael Pierce, Caliber Rivera, Roxanette Smith, Chad Stewart, Gabriel Streun, Cori Sutton and Tony Wagner.

Robotics students Easton Davis and Nathan Ascher worked with teammates to design the 2017 DHS Robotics Team Robot that earned a prestigious 3rd place State ranking at last weekend’s State competition in Frisco.

Ryan Gunter, Daniel Moya-Carpio and Nick Moreno worked to ensure that their award-winning 2017 Robot was capable of performing the various firefighting tasks outlined in this year’s “Crossfire” theme.

Robotics students (from left) Jacob Harris, Michael Pierce, Tony Wagner, Thomas Monsivais, Zach Owens, Caliber Rivera and Ryan Acevedo tested some of the working components of their team’s 2017 Robot, which won 3rd place in the 2017 State Robotics Finals in Frisco.

Denison High School’s Robotics Team advanced to the State Finals for the 8th year in a row, winning 3rd in the 2017 State Finals out of an original field of over 700 teams from Texas and New Mexico. “We are extremely proud of these kids, both as individuals and team members. A third place finish is awesome,” said Barnett.