Robotics

Holy Spirit Catholic School participates in challenges created by FIRST Robotics. The program encourages students to grow in their knowledge of science, technology, engineering and, mathematics in an environment that encourages cooperation within competitions. Students are expected to demonstrate both cooperation and gracious professionalism within their teams and at events.

The 2025–2026 season, FIRST® AGE℠ presented by Qualcomm, is inspired by archaeology. Teams will use their STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) and collaboration skills to dig deeper into discoveries.

Congratulations to our incredible middle school robotics team, Flamin’ Robots, for their outstanding performance during the 2024–2025 season!

They finished in second place during the playoffs and attended the state tournament in February.

  • FIRST LEGO League Unearthed is an basic program that introduces our youngest learners to STEM in a fun, interactive setting. Teams meet in groups of 4–6 students with one coach for up to 10 sessions.

  • The registration fee of $80 covers:

    • Purchase of this season’s materials

    • A team t-shirt

  • Please complete this form if you are interested in participating in the 2025–2026 season.

  • At this level, teams meet once a week to explore this year’s challenge: Unearthed. They will use creative thinking, coding, teamwork and the SPIKE Essential Robot to learn about the layers of the ocean. There are six students on a team with one coach and they meet about once a week until they complete their project. Teams have the option of attending a Festival to show judges what they did or sending in a virtual presentation for judges to view.

  • The registration fee of $110 covers:

    • National registration which includes Unearthed kit and engineering notebooks.

    • Festival or virtual presentation fee and materials

    • Team t-shirt 

  • Please complete this form if you are interested in participating in the 2025–2026 season.

  • Students at this level are introduced to robotics as a competitive sport. They code a SPIKE Prime robot to complete challenges and score points on a game board. They also complete an Innovation Project related to this year’s theme, Unearthed, which they present to judges. Last year, one Holy Spirit  team won an Innovation Project Award! Teams generally have 6–10 members and meet once or twice a week. They attend one tournament  in November, December or January.

  • Registration Fee of $130 covers

    • National registration fee

    • Submerged Challenge Set

    • Tournament Registration Fee

    • Team T-shirt

  • Please complete this form if you are interested in participating in the 2025–2026 season.

FIRST Tech Challenge: First Age (Grades 6-8)

  • At this level, students move past LEGOs and build a team robot to compete against other teams in an action-packed game. Teams can have up to 10 members, depending on the skills of each member. Teams need students to code, build the robot, drive the robot, work on the engineering notebook/portfolio, do outreach to the community, and work on requirements for a wide variety of awards. Each team member is expected to fill more than one role, including at least one “nonrobot” role. The team meets at least once a week and team members are expected to complete some tasks outside of meeting times (coding, driving practice, outreach to the community, helping younger teams, creating/editing videos, etc.). They attend one or two competitions, depending on timing and finances.

    There is limited availability on an established team at this level. If there is enough interest, we have a robot that can be used to start a second team.

  • The registration fee of $150 covers:

    • National registration fee

    • Tournament fee for 1 or 2 tournaments

    • Half of a game board to practice on

    • Additional robot parts

    • Team t-shirt

  • Please complete this form if you are interested in participating in the 2025–2026 season.

FAQs

  • Robotics is offered to students in kindergarten–grade 8.

  • Robotics teams begin meeting weekly in September. Teams meet after school between 3–5:30 p.m. Specific meeting dates and times are determined by parent coaches.

    Robotics teams begin participating in events in November with the opportunity to continue competing in events through February.

  • With the exception of kindergarten students, robotics team members have the opportunity to participate in events beginning in November. Events are determined by grade level.

    • Grades 1–3 participate in Festivals.

    • Grades 4–5 participate in Tournaments.

    • Grades 6–8 participate in Qualifiers.

  • There is a fee to participate in Robotics. Registration fees cover supplies, tournament registration, and team t-shirts. Team fees are determined annually.

    2025–2026 Fees

    • Kindergarten: $80

    • Grades 1–3 $110

    • Grades 4–5 $130

    • Middle School (6–8): $180

Questions? Contact the robotics team lead, Rebecca Dennis-Johnson.