Robotics teams at Bev Facey Community High design, build and test their robots in preparation for the 2024 FIRST Tech Challenge Northern Alberta Qualifier.

Sherwood Park, AB. — Bev Facey Community High is powering up for the FIRST Tech Challenge Northern Alberta Qualifier, a robotics competition being hosted at the school on February 4. “My high school's robotics program has provided me a space to explore the innovative world of technology,” says Taylor Wright, a Grade 12 student at Bev Facey and captain of the school’s Artemis robotics team. “As our team's passion and goals blend to create unique and interesting robots, I have only been left wanting more!”

Sixteen school and community teams from northern Alberta will attend the event with students from grades 7-12. Bev Facey students will compete alongside some familiar faces from Sherwood Park’s Salisbury Composite High. At the qualifier, teams will design, build, program and operate a robot—complete with sensors, motors, gears and software—to compete in an alliance format against each other.

“Being involved with this has been amazing,” says Susan Chalmers, a teacher at Bev Facey. “It’s been a lot of fun to watch how our teams have worked together this season—they're having fun and learning valuable technical and collaborative skills.”

Throughout the competition, each team will work with their robot in an alliance with another team playing a game called CENTERSTAGE. The goal: to score more points than the opponent. Points are scored by the robot moving hexagonal objects named pixels onto specified locations. During the first 30 seconds, robots are operated in an autonomous period using pre-programmed instructions. It then moves to a two-minute driver-controlled period. Then, in the last 30 seconds, robots can still earn points through normal means—however, bonus points are introduced for several other actions.

Four teams will qualify for the First Tech Challenge Alberta Championship in Red Deer on March 16-17. These teams will then have a chance to advance to the FIRST World Championship in Houston, taking place in April.

Congratulations to all the Bev Facey and Salisbury students competing in the 2024 FIRST Tech Challenge Northern Alberta Qualifier. And good luck!

Elk Island Public Schools is one of Alberta’s largest school divisions, serving approximately 17,750 students in 42 schools. We are proud to be an integral part of our communities, including Sherwood Park, Fort Saskatchewan, Vegreville, Strathcona and Lamont counties, and the western portion of the County of Minburn.

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For more information, media can contact:
Laura McNabb, Director, Communication Services, EIPS 780-417-8204 cell 780-405-4902