On the 1st of April, the AHS Robotics team traveled to Minneapolis to compete in the North Star Regional Competition. This team of about 30-35 robotics experts from Ames High, Ballard, and Gilbert competed their hardest, and though the team as a whole didn’t make it to Global Competitions, they still had fun, learned a lot, and ranked 7th out of 60 teams.

This four day event takes time and practice to prepare for. Team Captains Dagney Paskach and Timothy Steward lead the team in an intensive practice schedule. Before the competition, beginning in January, the team met every day from 4-8 PM at ISU’s Biorenewables Complex.

“We also have ISU and professional mentors who help us build the robot and run the team,” said Paskach.

Paskach was also awarded the Dean’s List Award, an award given to a select few student leaders who show hard work, dedication, and promise. This is through the program FIRST, which stands for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology” (www.usfirst.org). In the Dean’s letter to the judge, the reviewer said, “[Paskach] is dedicated to ensuring the success of the younger generation, mentoring FIRST Lego League (FLL) teams, and hosting events to introduce girls to STEM.”

This award comes with an invitation to the FIRST World Championship, which is held on April 22-25th. She will get to meet teams from all over the globe. Even though there might be a lot of stress and pressure that comes along with this honor, Paskach is excited.  “I’ll get to say hi to a lot of the team’s former mentors who have since graduated from ISU and are now mentoring other teams!” Paskach said.

Paskach will hopefully bring back much knowledge from her trip to this global competition, and she will continue to inspire the team for next year.