Wheeling Park Robotics geared up for the start of their season on October 26th at a competition in Wooster, OH where three teams took home awards. That is just the start of our robotics team in their sixth season.
Dr. Shepherd founded the team and has been the head coach for all six years.
“We started with only one team with 6 students . In our sixth year the robotics team has six individual teams and 30 students who compete among those teams,” said Shepherd.
The team is hosting a soup and salad luncheon to raise money for the team.
It will be located at the Wheeling Soup Kitchen on Saturday, December 7, 2024 from 1:00 – 4:00 pm. The address is 29 Elm St., Wheeling, WV 26003. Robotics team members will serve soup, salads, and beverages to the community. Tickets can be purchased from members of the robotics team, and some tickets will be available at the door during the event.
So far this season the WPHS robotics team competed in 3 competitions.
“The six Wheeling Park Iron Patriots teams have competed in competitions at Wooster High School in Wooster, OH, John Marshall High School in Glendale, WV, and Brooke Middle School in Wellsburg, WV. The Park teams have done extremely well. Said Shepherd
Preparing for competitions takes time and lots of effort. The robotics team stays late after school perfecting their mechanisms.
“So far, we have a couple of really high performing teams. Iron Patriots: X-Ray has a record of 31-1-0. They have won each of the three tournaments that we have participated in. They have also won multiple judged awards, and they have won two skills champion awards,” said Shepherd.
Fourth year members and seniors Wyatt Wheeler and Nya White enjoy robotics and think their season is going well. They share a little bit about their experience and the good things that have happened this year.
This season is going well, one of our teams competed in Ohio and one team won a tournament championship. That’s also the highest rank .Robotics teaches me that Teamwork is collaboration,” said Nya White
“I’ve done a lot of great things with the teams. Robotics has taught me alot about what I want to do after high school and I’ve got to meet a lot of nice new people”, said Wyatt Wheeler
The teams early successes this season are already solidifying state qualifications as they keep the Worlds competition firmly in their thoughts.
The Iron Patriots: Yikes currently has a record of 29-3-0. They have won two out of the three tournaments, and they have also won multiple judged awards. My other teams Wagyu, Zenith, Platypus, and K-otic have also performed extremely well in the early season. So far, five of the six Iron Patriots teams have qualified for the state championship,” said Dr. Shepherd.
The robotics team’s home competition is on January 11, 2025 at WPHS in the main gym starting at 9:00 AM. Come check out the incredible work the team does!
