The CyberKnights are pictured here with their Project to Save the Turtles. Pictured with their state qualifying medals are, front row (L to R): Christian Keegan, “Bobby” (the robot), Christian Ryan, Back row: Marcus Albertsen, Conner Prestemon, Toby Hopkins, Ryan Reifenstahl, Tommy Jantzen.

Union Middle School was fortunate to have 4 robotics teams this year; 3 from LaPorte City, and 1 from Dysart. The Dysart team, CyberKnights, had a very successful year! With only one returning member – Marcus Albertsen (8th grade), and 6 rookies: Christian Ryan (7th grade), and the following 6th graders: Toby Hopkins, Tommy Jantzen, Christian Keegan, Conner Prestemon, and Ryan Reifenstahl. They were led by first-time coaches, Jeff and Kelly Jantzen. It was quite the journey and experience for all.once teams were formed, parents of the teams (including those at LaPorte City) donated and reached out to get funding to buy necessary materials (computer, programming, robot, mat for table, registration, etc.) as this is not a school funded activity. We appreciate the support of the following: Farmers Savings Bank, Farmers State Bank, Cedar Valley Bank & Trust, Eikamp Insurance, John Deere, Cans for Kids, Cedar River Ag Repair, Dysart Development Corporation, Dysart Lion’s Club, Farmer’s Cooperative Telephone Company, Great Plaines Survey, Incl, Jack’s Tire, Inc., Jama Runyun/Brook Skram, CPA’s, LB’s Pizza, LPC Connect, LPC Flooring, Pipho Family Dentistry, WR Farms, and Robotics families. We could not have achieved this without you!

Once beginning the journey, team members quickly realized that “Robotics” involved more than building with Legos and programming a robot (which many thought). There are 4 components to the competition. The FLL (First Lego League) provides a “theme” for the year, which this year was “Animal Allies.” For the “Project” component, the team had to research a current “problem” and then find or create solutions to the problems. This information was then transferred to a display board, and the team created a presentation/skit to be shared at competition. The second component of competition was “Robot Design” where judges asked the team how and why they designed their robot as they did. In addition, judges asked about the successes, processes, and obstacles the team experienced. One big obstacle this team overcame was that the “robot” was not received until one week before the regional competition! The team was busy that week! Another obstacle is that the 2 coaches and 2 team members were unable to attend the regional competition in Davenport on December 11, due to weather, so the 5 attending boys worked together to revamp their presentation and take on additional roles, as well revising and reprogramming the robot in between events to score more points! The team is given 3 different opportunities to run their robot through the various obstacles to gain points based on successful missions. The final category of competition was “Core Values” where the team was given a task to complete together, which tested their teamwork skills. During this time the judges were watching for the team’s ability to problem solve and work together. The CyberKnights were surprised to learn that they qualified for state! The “Oinkers,” a team based in LaPorte City also qualified for state! Although neither team placed, we are so proud of all you accomplished.

This was a great learning experience for this group, and fun was had by all! We look forward to what the future holds for Robotics next year!