COURTESY MCKINLEY HIGH SCHOOL
The McKinley High School robotics team made sure
its robot was in good working condition in the pit area
at the FIRST robotics competition at San Jose State
University March 23-24. McKinley came in third
overall in the competition.

Students learn
value of teamwork
in robotics contest

3 isle high schools earn
top spots in the regional
round of a national competition

By Pat Gee
Star-Bulletin

It's a lot easier to destroy another robot than it is to work with others to achieve a common goal.

That is the lesson learned by the McKinley High School team, which made it to the final four in the regional round of the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics competition March 23-24.

McKinley was ranked seventh of the 53 teams and came in third overall, said Milton Lau, a McKinley shop teacher who led the team to the finals last year.

He said this year's competition at San Jose State University was a lot harder because of time constraints, more difficult scoring rules and -- most of all -- the necessity of forming alliances with robot teams that competitors got to know only two minutes before starting time.

Waipahu and Waialua high schools, ranked 16th and 20th in the NASA-run contest, finished in first because they were in the alliance led by the top-seeded team from San Jose.

COURTESY MCKINLEY HIGH SCHOOL
McKinley High School's robot, left, No. 368, towed
Waipahu High's robot, No. 636. Waialua High
School, which also entered the competition,
placed first overall along with Waipahu.

Ted Nagata, coordinator of the Waialua team, said he could see the increase in the self-confidence and excited attitude toward learning gained by the 14 team members who went to the mainland.

The hands-on experience made them able to relate what they learned in the classroom to the "real world," he said. Previously, when asked what they wanted to do with their lives, they would answer, "I don't know," but now they say, "I want to go to college," Nagata said.

One of the kids said the competition was "more exciting than going to Disneyland." For Nagata, who once won the Milken Award for being an outstanding teacher, he said the excitement he saw in the kids at the contest was the most rewarding experience in his 35 years of teaching.

Bill Speed, a Waipahu physics teacher and engineer club adviser, said he took a team of six boys and six girls who were inexperienced to the competition for the first time. But most of the team members got to drive the robot to score points, "which spread out the excitement," whereas most teams used one or two of the most experienced drivers, he said.

One of the team captains, senior Beverly Guiang, said it was "overwhelming" that "a rookie team did pretty well."

Speed said the Waipahu and Waialua teams have received recognition from the state Legislature via a resolution sponsored by Waipahu Rep. Nestor Garcia.

The Waialua team, which competed last year, acted as mentors and was invaluable with the knowledge it shared, he added.

Lau said McKinley's team "did relatively well, but we didn't get a chance to unleash the full potential of our robot. A lot of people claimed their robot could do things, but they really couldn't," especially with the time constraints, he said.

The contest rule-makers thought it would be "more challenging to work together than just kill each other," he said.

"The contest stressed the importance of teamwork," Lau said. "In the real world, you won't be able to work with your friends; you have to work with people with different talents, characteristics, ethnic backgrounds and personalities. You have to work together to make a company profitable -- that's your main goal."

Nagata said McKinley deservedly won the Daimler Chrysler Team Spirit Award "for the aloha they spread." All the Hawaii teams brought leis, pineapples and gifts, but McKinley was most outstanding "because they exemplified what Hawaii is about," he said.