Whidbey Island Robotics Club
Home of Team 2980 - The Whidbey Island Wildcats
Our History
2022-23
Now we’re talking. We mentored six more FLL teams in the fall, and our FTC turnout was so high that we had to add a second team. We widened our sights in FRC and tried a more complicated design which earned us a playoff alliance spots at both our competitions. For the first time in team history, our FRC team qualified for the PNW District Championships based on our robot’s performance. But we added an Engineering Inspiration Award for good measure, too. Off the field, we continue to work hard in the community with our ramp building, menstrual equity, garden learning, and other programs. And we keep spreading STEM fun through our outreach activities, like elementary STEM nights, Lego Camps, and presentations for Big Brothers and Big Sisters.
2023-24
More remarkable growth as our FLL teams grew to eight and we had to add yet another FTC team to bring our count to three. And, one of our FTC teams became the first Whidbey Island team to qualify for the Washington State finals. Our FRC team continued to blossom as we qualified again for the PNW District Championships while our outreach, community service, and awards team earned the prestigious FIRST Inspire Award.
2021-22 - We're Back
Things started getting back to “normal”. We mentored six FLL teams and restarted our FTC team in the fall. And, while our numbers didn’t get all the way back to 2019, the FRC team grew back to almost 20 members. With a very inexperienced team, we kept the FRC robot very simple which was very effective – we earned places in playoff alliances at both competitions and were an alliance captain for the first time. Sadly, we did not quite qualify for the District Championships as COVID reduced the number of teams invited. We also started our menstrual equity project after being invited to act as ME ambassadors at one of our FRC competitions.
2020-21 - Remote Season
COVID still got in the way of a lot this year, but we did what we could. We hosted one FLL team that met entirely remotely. In fact, the only time the team members were in the same place was the one day in April that they got together to film their robot on the field. Our FRC team was reduced to five members meeting in the Spring to video their robot driving in the school’s parking lot. COVID still sucks. But Mr. Edoga won the PNW Woodie Flowers Award.
2019-20 - Interrupted
The good news: the fall season saw two FLL teams qualify for the State semifinals, and our first FLL team qualify for the State Finals. The bad news: COVID sucks. Our FRC team finished the build season and was ready to go, but COVID had other ideas and competitions were halted before we could take the field. However, we kept the team together and made and delivered masks to the community, and we earned a district-level Chairman’s Award.
2018-19
Our last FRC season with the 2016 freshmen started with a bang, winning the District Chairmans Award at our first event and Engineering Inspiration at our second. Sadly, our robot ran out of steam at the PNW championship. However, we sent a group of team members to the World Championships to deliver a presenting on how our team uses FIRST to help our community.
2017-18
The team members who were freshmen in 2016 were juniors now, and their experience paid off with a better robot. An Engineering Inspiration award let us present at the District Championships, and a District Engineering Inspiration award meant we took our robot to the World Championships for a third time where we went on to rank in the top half of our division. Off the field, we finished our animatronic deer, designed and built 2 micro homes, began a host of other exciting new projects, and boasted our second Dean’s List finalist.
2016-17
More growth as the high school team grew to 32 members, won another district Chairman’s Award and competed again at the PNW District Championships. Off the field, we continued to mentor our FLL teams and began our FLL Jamboree, a pre-competition day for our FLL teams to gather, share ideas, and practice the game and presenting to judges. Our bigger team also branched out into more and larger special projects such as wheelchair ramps, prosthetics, and Bill the animatronic deer.
2015-16 - Growth
A year of great growth, our high school team increased from 12 members in 2015 to 26 in just one year. We also increased from 2 FLL teams in 2013 to 9 this year. Our new members, most of whom were just Freshmen, hit the ground running as the FRC team won a district Chairman’s Award for the second straight year. We followed that up by winning the Chairman’s Award at the District Championships, earning our second trip to the World Championships. We placed 50 out of the 75 teams on our Worlds field and came home with a Team Spirit Award.
2014-15 - Chairmans and Dean's List
While the FRC robot struggled on the field, we continued to develop our community service and outreach programs. We won our first district Chairman’s Award, earning a spot in the Pacific Northwest District Championship for the first time. And we collected our first individual award, boasting one of only 10 FIRST Dean’s List Award winners worldwide for the season.
2013-14 - Engineering Inspiration
The first major award on our mantle, the 2014 Engineering Inspiration Award, earned us a spot at the World Championships in St. Louis Missouri. We placed 42nd in the world, setting the bar for the teams that would follow.
2012-13 - More Robots
The year our club became year-round. 2013 was the first year for our FTC team, and we mentored our first two FLL teams. Adding teams with fall seasons engaged incoming freshmen to stick with the club, and it provided opportunities for new team leaders with the graduations of our founding members. On the field, our FRC robot didn’t come together as well as hoped as our team “went down the rabbit hole” on a climbing mechanism design that ended up being so difficult that it had to be scrapped a week before bag day.
2011-12 - More FIRSTs
The final year for our first batch of graduating seniors saw our club continue to grow and branch out. Our robot has some difficulties on the field, but we submitted for awards for the first time and saw examples and opportunities for our team to reach out in our community. And we won our first award, the Gracious Professionalism award. Back home, we started our community outreach programs as we sponsored our first Lego Camp for 3rd through 7th graders.
2010-11 - Starting Team Traditions
For the first time, we invited the community to our first Design Night and presented our robot design ideas to the public for the first time. This started the tradition, which has continued in our club ever since, of having our supporters and community participate in the design of our robots. On the field, we had some communications issues for several matches, but our performance was still recognized, and we were picked for a playoff alliance for the first time.
2009-10
Our team grew, and our robot improved. New members meant we had several people who had no idea what they were doing at the beginning of the season, but eventually our members figured out their roles. Our robot was legal and functional for competition, though we didn’t have as much practice time as we needed. More lessons, more improvements.
2008-09 - Our FIRST Year
Our first year as a Robotics Team started when a parent came to a teacher and asked if there was someplace where his son could use his skills to do something. And so, the Oak Harbor Robotics Team began. We had a total of 5 members our first year. When we got to our first competition, we realized our robot was overweight and we had to remove a lot of components to make it legal. That left us with a “rolling brick” that could only roll around and get in the way of other teams. But we learned invaluable lessons that we would take with us into the next seasons.