FIRST Tech Challenge

FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) teams design, build, and code their robots to compete against other local teams in a full season of robotics engineering. Every season has a unique challenge with new ways to score points that challenge teams to innovate. There is no instruction manual to build these robots so teams must design them from the ground up. They’ll practice engineering principles such as keeping an engineering notebook, teamwork, problem solving, and creative thinking.

FTC offers a high-level, lower-cost engineering experience with a focused fall season. It serves as a fantastic standalone option or as the pathway to our high school varsity FRC team, 7028 Binary Battalion. We consider FTC to be the “Junior Varsity” robotics level at STMA. Our goal is to develop students into independent engineers:

• Middle School Focus: Students focus on building foundational teamwork habits, technical skills, and documentation.
• High School Focus: Students transition toward independent project management and advanced engineering. This includes full CAD (Onshape) of their robots and programming in Java.
• Presentation: Design an Engineering Portfolio to present the team's technical journey to judges.

Special Events

• Parent Meeting: 
  • Saturday, September 12 9:15 AM
• Kickoff/Bootcamp: 
  • Saturday, September 12 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM
• Scrimmage at Becker
  • Friday, October 9 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM
• Scrimmage at STMA
  • Saturday, October 24 7:30 AM - 11:30 AM
• Scrimmage at Elk River
  • Saturday, November 7 7:30 AM - 11:30 AM
• Qualifier: TBD (One weekend day in November or December)
  • If a team advances, there will be an additional competition mid-February 2027.
    

Grades 7-8
Location: STMA High School Engineering Room 2765
Instructor: Elisha Gasser

Practice Schedule 

• Days (2 Days/Week): Mondays & Wednesdays 
• Dates: September 12 – December 16
• Time: 6:00 - 8:00 PM
• No Practice: October 14, November 2, 25

Grades 9-12
Location: STMA High School Engineering Room 2765
Instructor: Zack Osowski

Practice Schedule (Session A)

• Days (2 Days/Week): Mondays & Wednesdays 
• Dates: September 12 – December 16
• Time: 3:30–5:30 PM
• No Practice: October 14, November 2, 25

Note: Students interested in joining the Varsity-level FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) team in January are highly encouraged to have prior FTC experience.

Practice Schedule (Session B)

• Days (2 Days/Week): Tuesday & Thursday 
• Dates: September 12 – December 16
• Time: 6:00 -8:00 pm
• No Practice: October 14, November 2, 25

Additional Details for All Participants

• A $175 booster club fee is due at the Parent Meeting on September 12.