'TigerBots' Roar: Notre Dame High Only All-Girl School In Robotics Competition

Notre Dame Belmont’s all-girl rookie robotics team, the TigerBots, of 12 sophomore and freshman students were ranked 6 out 16 at their first competition last December, and were the only all-girl school team to compete at the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) competition at Heritage High School. 

According to a media release sent out by the school, the TigerBots were won the judges’ Motivate Award for exemplifying “the essence of FTC competition through team building, team spirit and enthusiasm.”  

 “This is absolutely beyond expectations for a first year team competing in their first event ever”, said Coach Tracey Grown, “never mind an all-girls, freshman/sophomore team. We couldn't be more proud of the girls’ teamwork and accomplishments. Competitive robotics teams are about the process of learning and collaborating. Doing well in competition is icing on the cake”.  

FTC competitions are designed for student teams to compete head to head. Teams are responsible for designing, building, and programming their robots to compete in an alliance format against other teams, as well as recruiting sponsors. Volunteer professional mentors lend their time and talents to guide each team.

“The unique model of competitive high school robotics” said Maryann Osmond, Interim Head of School, “requires that the team members are directly responsible for all facets of making the team successful, from engineering, to marketing and promotion. This model provides unique connected learning opportunities and is an extension of what we do with our curriculum daily at NDB.”

The team's next competition is Jan. 25. The girls would also like to sign up sponsors to keep their new team running.