Santan Sun News Staff
Seton Catholic Prep’s robotics team won its first state championship in the school’s history earlier this month.
The school’s team will share the 2018 Sanghi Foundation FIRST Robotics state title with Mesa’s Westwood High and Phoenix’s Carl Hayden High as a result of an alliance formed during the competition.
FIRST Robotics allows and encourages such alliances because it is widely recognized that cooperation produces innovation.
Arizona’s top 30 high school robotics teams participated in the state tournament, which is sanctioned by FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics. The nonprofit organization was founded in 1989 to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology.
“We are extremely proud of our robotics team, our team moderator and the adult volunteers whose hard work and dedication resulted in our first state championship,” said Seton Catholic Principal Victor Serna.
Seton Catholic’s team, known as Team 1212 in competition circles, was an early participant in FIRST Robotics tournaments in Arizona and has won awards for creativity and design.
Seton Catholic Fine Arts Teacher Michael Foor is the team moderator; Bernie McBryan, Ron Gordon and Phillip Warren are the adult mentors.
Team members include Uriel Anderson, Matt Halfmann, Connor Davis, Andrew Bohata, Caleb Derr, Claire Fraser, Clare Peterson, Cole Shapiro, Emily Sanders, Francis Lim, Isaac Baron, Jake Marr, James Heinemann, James Karam, John Buessing, Johnny Nguyen, Natalie Barnhouse, Nicole Feil and Thomas Knaggs.
In addition to competing in robotics tournaments, the Seton Catholic team adapts Power Wheels for children with special needs as a community service project. The cars are presented to the children during the annual “Kids in Motion” derby in the spring.
A 2017 National Blue Ribbon School, Seton Catholic Preparatory is a diocesan, coeducational high school in Chandler open to students of all faiths.
Information: setoncatholic.org.
