The Bartlesville Rotary Club is a long-time sponsor of Tri County Tech’s FIRST Robotics program.

This week, they gifted the program with a $500 sponsorship. The sponsorship was received by Kendall Baker, Tri County Tech’s Pre-Engineering Instructor and Jeannette Slater, Tri County Tech’s Computer Repair & Networking Instructor. The Rotary Club has shown their generosity in several ways, from sponsorships, to their very own members serving as mentors in the Robotics program.

“The FIRST Robotics team is extremely proud to have Bartlesville Rotary Club as a sponsor. They have been a big part of Tri County Tech’s Robotics Program since it first began in 2007. They have always been a big part of what we do with the Robotics program”, said Baker. 

The FIRST Robotics team currently consists of about 12 students who meet every Monday evening at the Tri County Tech Strategy Center. Each year, students work together for months to plan, design, build, and program a 120lb robot from scratch. The robot will compete in contests like soccer, basketball, frisbee, tennis, and more, following a standard set of rules.

This sponsorship will help pay for registration to the upcoming competitions in Shawnee, Oklahoma in March 2022, as well as the competition in Tulsa, Oklahoma in April 2022. “The program will also use this money to help with parts for building their robot”, said Baker.

“Infinite Recharge” is this year’s Star Wars-themed contest. It will feature two alliances of “droids” that will use power cells and manipulate control panels to protect FIRST City from approaching asteroids caused by a distant space skirmish. Students can join the team at any time during the school year by visiting TriCountyTech.edu/FIRST.