The I.E. Weldon Secondary School (IEWSS) Robotics Team, otherwise known as Weldon’s Young Robotic Engineers, or Wild WYRE 8731, recently received a number of generous donations to support the team’s efforts throughout the school year.
Wild WYRE 8731 is made up of approximately 40 Grade 9 to 12 students who are supported by dedicated mentors. They operate entirely as an extracurricular activity, getting together after school and on weekends to design, manufacture, code, build, and fundraise. They spend hundreds of hours throughout the school year creating a robot from start to finish to compete at the FIRST Robotics competitions, where they face other school teams from around the world.
“Wild WYRE 8731 is proud to be part of the global FIRST Robotics organization,” explained IEWSS Robotics mentor, Jen Vanderzwet. “FIRST, which stands for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology is an international program that engages students in a hands-on experience to design, build, and compete with robots. Each year, teams are challenged to solve complex problems in a game-like format, fostering innovation, teamwork, and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), all while promoting values like inclusion, collaboration, and professionalism. Our team brings these principles to life in our community.”
A big shout out and thank you to the donors thus far, including 100 Men of Kawartha Lakes, CenterLine (Windsor) Limited, Desjardins Insurance, and Lindsay Optimist Club for their generous contributions.
“The excitement is building as we prepare for the upcoming season, which kicks off on January 4th, when we will learn the details of the competition challenges. From there, we will have almost two months to design and build our robot before our first challenge at Durham College in March. After that, we’ll be headed to North Bay for our second pre-qualifying match before moving on to provincials, and then possibly worlds,” said Vanderzwet. “It’s going to be an incredible journey and your support plays a big part in our success!”
For more information about robotics programs in schools, visit the FIRST Robotics Competition website.
