For the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic, Helias Catholic’s robotics program supported two teams this season, with the RoboCrusaders advancing to postseason competition for the second time.

Team 6889 (RoboCrusaders) consisted of five returning members, who helped mentor seven rookie members on Team 27304 (CrusaderBots).

Helias Catholic’s robotics teams participate in the FIRST Tech Challenge for students ages 12–18, which encourages teams to design, build, program and engage in robotics competitions to develop STEM skills and practice engineering principles while realizing the value of innovation and teamwork.

The RoboCrusaders ended 2024-25 league play as third place team captain, advancing them to one of the two super qualifiers in the Missouri/Kansas Region. The Missouri/Kansas Region is made up of eight leagues comprising about 200 teams.

The RoboCrusaders competed among 36 teams from four leagues at the West Super Qualifier. The team ended their season at the super qualifier, where they earned the second-place Robot Design award.

The RoboCrusaders qualified to compete in the postseason playoffs for the first time last year, returning for back-to-back postseasons this year.

Team 27304 ended their season at the league tournament. The CrusaderBots entered that tournament with a league ranking of 5th out of 22 teams, a big accomplishment for a rookie team.

“In robotics it is not just wins and losses that advance teams to the next level,” said Helias Catholic teacher Mrs. Melissa Rockers, who has mentored the team since 2017. “Each team has to work with other teams in competition, and they are paired randomly with teams they have not worked with before but must work together to accomplish each match.

“Each match offers new challenges of how to accomplish goals with teams that have different abilities. Teams also have to meet with judges to present how their team did community outreach, worked as a team, engineered and programmed their robot.”

RoboCrusaders member Cody Mackey was nominated as a FIRST TECH Challenge Dean's List semifinalist. The Dean's List is open to sophomores and juniors who have a significant impact on their team and in the STEM community.

The Helias Catholic robotics program hosts a summer robotics camp for area children entering fifth through eighth grades. This year’s camp will be June 10-12 and July 8-10. Click here for summer camp registration.