Pontiac Times

Members of the Pontiac robotics team hope to have a busy itinerary next April.

Desheil Echols, assistant superintendent of curriculum, shared proposals for potential field trips for the team during a recent meeting of the Pontiac School District. If the Pontiac robotics team qualifies for local competition in March, they want to travel to the state robotics championship occurring from April 5 to 8 in Saginaw Valley. The team also hopes to qualify for the world competition being held from April 18 to 23 in Houston, Texas.  

Gill Garrett, president of the Pontiac School District, said robotics is one of his favorite sports activities and he understands how important competing in events is to the team.

"To them, this is their Olympics," Garrett said. "It's [great] to see them get excited and then to now see the world coming to them. These kids have been doing this for years. When you see the Hall of Famers, you see the banners ... over at WHRC. And now, [we] see the world actually coming into a space where each school [has] almost a requirement to have a robotics team. And then kids ... as young as in the fourth and fifth grade get into coding in the district [and get] to partner with individuals who teach our kids doing a summer coding. And so, ... we have not necessarily come a long way, but we've led the way when it comes down to robotics competitions and coding in this state, at least, and I'm happy to say that."

The Pontiac robotics team was established in 1997 – the result of merging teams from Pontiac Northern High School and Pontiac Central High School. The program has flourished since then. The team is recognized as a Hall of Fame FIRST Robotics team and a former world championship winner. Its members go on to study at Stanford, Harvard, and the University of Michigan and work for GM, Ford, and other engineering companies.

Trustee Kevin Green said he remembers a time when he was on an unrelated trip to Atlanta and the Pontiac team was competing in a world competition there. He said it was one of the most fun events and evenings he ever had, and he was proud of the district for continuing its legacy of excellence in the program.