MIHS’ Robotics team is a group of hardworking students that meet daily in the vacant South End Rite-Aid, dedicating hours of their time and energy to their robot, Turbo Fluctuosa, that’s currently ranked #3 in the world. As of now, the team took first in their latest competition, advancing to districts and aiming to make it to worlds.

The theme for their upcoming district competition is reefscape, and the project they’re currently working on is an algae shooting robot. MI’s robotics team is one of the few teams that decided to devise from the basics and went for an algae theme rather than coral, making them a standout competitor in the upcoming tournament. However, this team hasn’t always easily prevailed at every competition they’ve been thrown into – they actually began as an underdog. MI robotics came into their current season as the eighth seed in their division, meaning they had to work hard and eventually clawed their way up the rankings to second place, the first time a jump this big has happened in over five years for the team.

“This group of kids […] they seem to just jump in […] finding where they belong, and [working] together for a common goal” coach Michael Ketchum said, admiring the determination of this dedicated group of high school students.

The students truly enjoy and are passionate about what they’re doing. “[Robotics is] really fun, being able to both spend time and solve problems as a group,” junior Shane Kornblum said.

Mercer Island’s robotics team is a welcoming group of students dedicated to their craft that work together to problem solve and create new and improved robots every single day. “[The club] is a really nice place to learn mechanical skills, [as well as] talking to new people,” said freshman Nathan Bernson. The team is looking for new members who are enthusiastic about robotics, and encourages students who take interest in robotics to come check out the club after school in room 312 – they make their daily departure to the workshop at around 3:15.