Currently we are three weeks into our build season and our team hasn't skipped a single beat. We have been on top of meetings, goals, and schedules and so far we have a half-way complete robot. These photos show are design/prototype of our robot as of January 27, 2014. This won't be the final design, however this is a very similar idea to it. The mechanics behind the robot are still in progress. For more information about our build season, visit our Arial Assist page!

This week our team of mentors and students have been working continuously to develop our robot's specifications. Overall we've had a strong start this season with the makings of an excellent robot. 

Our Marketing team has been busy this week with visiting the community and talking to any potential sponsors available. The goal this year is to raise enough funding to register in a second second regional, and the price is a steep $4,000. If you, sponsor or individual, would be willing to help us accomplish this task, please don't hesitate to contact us with references.

We have been working on a robotics recruitment initiative where veterans of the program talk to local classrooms of the program's benefits. Participating in this program at a younger age is one of the most progressive decisions a student can act upon during their high school career- just ask our graduated robotics students! You can identify with reasons to join robotics on our Benefits page. Be sure to check the FIRST scholarships page as well!

This season's cougar robotics schedule has been completed. It can be found under the team area navigation bar in the calendar tab. Another link is provided on the right of this page under Other Links. Also a friendly notification to parents interested in catering to one of our Saturday meetings: email cougarrobotics1982@gmail.com for more information. 

Kicking off the build season, many of our members have already dedicated more than 25 hours of their time and the results have been fantastic. A functional chassis has been established and prototyping of a shooting mechanism is focus. We are well prepared for this upcoming season.

This year, our team is working on expanding our horizons by taking the time to contact potential sponsors personally, as well as dedicating students for a self-made ad campaign in which we will endorse throughout the community. Reaching out to the younger audiences encourages students to identify with the importance of innovative sciences, which in turn will develop our nation in the future. 

This year we have needs that need to be met, and we are asking our parents to help by signing up to cater our weekend meetings. During the build season our students are active from 9am-5pm every Saturday, and the best way we can reward our hard working  members is with provided lunch. We also have 9am-5pm meetings on days in which school is cancelled (snow days, holidays, etc.). We would love any parents and sponsors to contribute to the program. If you are interested in catering to one of our meetings, contact us at cougarrobotics1982@gmail.com. Currently we only have two families providing lunches, so we would love your parent involvement! 

Thank you for your considerations, and wish the Cougars luck!

On the first and second of November, Cougar Robotics will be entering into Cowdown Throwdown, a Kansas City exclusive, off-season competition. This event is based off the game mode chosen for the preceding season: Ultimate Ascent, which 48 regional and nationwide teams compete by official standards.

Cougar Robotics 1982 will be present, the competition lasting from 6 p.m. on Friday to the late afternoon of Saturday, running elimination rounds on the tournament bracket. For more information of Cowtown Throwdown, see the official website here. 


Our fundraising phase continues through out the off-season for registry and maintenance fees.

This year our Robotics team is participating in the SMNW Club Day on August 28, 2013. There, we will be introducing our robot and team to students of our own high school. We will also be beginning our pre-season fundraising! 

If any student or parent is willing to bring baked goods for Club Day able to be sold, please contact Jenna Septer. This season our goal is to raise $5 000 pre-season in order to start off our build season with a head start! Sign up for our team if you're interested! 

Welcome back Northwest to the 2013-2014 school year! We have been looking forward to this all summer
 and now that its finally here, we can't believe it! The Robotics pre-season has begun and we are looking forward to getting know all of you better this year. 

We have began to search for any new and willing students to join our team. If you know anyone who is interested, point them towards our website or invite them to one of our pre-season meetings! We will be meeting every Wednesday after school from 3:00 pm to 3:30pm in Room C. Feel free to join us!

Robotics means a lot of things to many people. Some people use robotics as an opportunity to explore the worlds of engineering and programming. The knowledge gained in these programs helps many students every year with college tuition. Last year, the FIRST Organization gave out $16 000 total in scholarship money to students who had participated in their program. This program has helped many students to pay for college, and from their testimonials, its all worth it. Another aspect of being on our robotics team is the experience in business management. Students are required to raise funds for their upcoming season, and if they are unable pay the entrance fee, their team isn't entered into the competition. These students learn many skills in the business world such as presentations, speaking skills, as well as writing skills; all useful skills used in common-day careers. 

We hope that you will be able to join us for this upcoming year! Let's make this one count!

-SMNW Cougar Robotics Executives

On April 9th, 2013 the NW Cougar Robotics team attended a local elementary school's family fun night in order to increase awareness of the FIRST program in the younger generations. We were able to educate parents on the benefits of the FIRST program and give them the resources to start their own team, given the fact that Rising Star currently does not have their own FLL team. Inspiring many parents to get involved, we had multiple parents ask us whether or not starting a team at this elementary school was possible. We even had a set of parents ask about starting a Jr. FLL team. Overall, this was a very successful outreach opportunity due to the fact that boys and girls alike were willing to join the program.

This year our team competed in the 2013 FIRST Robotics Competition here in the Greater Kansas City Regional. We were very grateful to any and all mentors who were able to make this a wonderful year. This year our team was composed of a total of 25 kids and 13 mentors. Our Drive Team was composed of Senior Charlie Schmidt, Junior Philip Ruo, and Sophomore Denzel Richmond. We had a great time at competition, and we look forward to building bigger and better robots in the years to come!

This year has been diverse in comparison to our past and has changed our approaches in various ways. As we review, developments can be seen throughout the season: