Eagan's Robotics Team at Championships - Who are we, and how did we get here?

Eagan High School's FIRST Robotics Team, known as Team 2220, or Blue Twilight, was founded by a small group of students and mentors in 2007. This year, we have grown to include more than 80 students and 32 mentors, making us the largest FIRST Robotics team in Minnesota. FIRST Robotics is an organization that encourages young people to explore STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), by working together to build a robot to compete in an annual competition.

Here's how the competition works: Each year a new game is announced. This year, it's an adapted version of frisbee golf, with the added challenge of getting the robot to climb a pyramidal structure at the end. Teams are allowed only six weeks after the announcement of the game to design and build their robots. Then, the robots are crated up and can no longer be worked on. Next, teams compete at regional events, of which there are more than 75 around the world. The top teams from each regional move on to compete at the world championship competition.

Earlier this year at the Northern Lights Regional in Minneapolis, Eagan's team, Blue Twilight, was presented with the Chairman's Award. According to FIRST's official description of the award: "The Chairman's award is FIRST's most prestigious award. The Chairman’s Award represents the spirit of FIRST.  It honors the team that, in the judges’ estimation, best represents a model for other teams to emulate, and which embodies the goals and purpose of FIRST.  It remains FIRST’s most prestigious award." In order to receive the award, teams must write an essay and executive summary, produce a three-minute video and present to judges about how they have spread the message of FIRST. This includes outreach to other teams, community education events, and promotion of STEM education.

Our team was recognized for starting and mentoring elementary school FIRST Lego League teams in and around Eagan, holding robotics demonstrations at the Minnesota State Fair, hosting an event for other teams to test their robots prior to competition, and holding a STEM career fair for local students at Eagan High School, among other things. In addition to the honor of winning, the award allowed our team to advance to the World Championship which is taking place today, April 24th, through Saturday, April 27th in St. Louis, Missouri.

In addition to the winning the Regional Chairman's Award, one of Blue Twilight's members won the Dean's List Finalist Award. Our team nominated Christina Le (grade 11) and she was chosen by the competition judges as a regional finalist, who will compete for one of ten Dean's list titles awarded in St. Louis. The Dean's list award recognizes an individual student for outstanding achievement on their team, including technical knowledge and leadership ability. Specifically, "Inspiring others to be passionate about FIRST."

To keep up with Blue Twilight as this season progresses, and as we prepare for next season, visit our team’s website. A video explaining this year’s game can be found here. To learn more about the World Championship competition, and watch live video feed of the event, visit FIRST’s official website.