The final qualifying tournaments were held across the country this past weekend and preparations for the State Championships are in full swing. TUSD Robotics hosted our final tournament on February 2nd, celebrating 5 years of robotics across the Tustin Unified School District. Pictured below, we have two graduating seniors who started building robots during their 8th-grade year at Hewes and Orchard Hills Middle Schools. Both seniors, Blaise from Foothill High School and Michelle from Beckman High School, have participated in teams for all five years earning multiple awards and attending the VEX World Championships.

Pictured below are all of our graduating seniors who have big plans to attend prestigious colleges such as MIT, Harvard, and Berkley to name a few. These students have bright futures and if their current achievements are any indication of what is to come, we have many leaders entering STEM fields from TUSD Robotics!

The final tournament consisted of 34 robotics teams representing every middle and high school in TUSD. Over twenty awards were handed out that day and teams had fun dressing up to compete for the Energy Award. Some of the awards are pictured below. To view the rest of the awards, team photos and other pictures from the final February TUSD Robotics tournament, please go to the TPSF Smug Mug Account courtesy of John Garrett.

The fifth and final Foothill Highschool robotics team qualified for the State Championships at the Feb. 2nd tournament. Columbus Tustin Middle School wanted one more chance at some state tickets and traveled to McFarland, CA to earn two more tickets. We currently have 19 secondary teams headed to the CA State Championships in the next few weeks. There are five locations for CA State Championships this year and earning a ticket to the World Championship is more difficult than it has been in the past. Choosing where to register is a strategy in and of itself and teams from the same school site may choose to split up. The schedule is provided below.

Saturday, March 2: Foothill Team A in Los Angeles

Saturday, March 2: Foothill Team X in Bakersfield

Saturday, March 2: Orchard Hills Teams A, C, and E in Bakersfield

Sunday, March 3: Columbus Tustin Teams C, D, and F in Los Angeles

Saturday, March 9: Columbus Tustin Team A & Orchard Hills Teams B and D in San Diego

Saturday, March 10: Beckman Teams J, N, R, X, Y in San Diego

Saturday, March 10: Foothill Teams B, C, D in San Diego

As we close our qualifying season, a special thanks go out to all the volunteers, mentors, coaches, parents, TPSF, and TUSD who has helped to provide these amazing opportunities for TUSD Robotics students. We must also recognize the hard work and dedication that the students put in to make all of this happen. These kids are absolutely amazing!

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