HURRICANE — The Team Without a Cool Acronym (TWCA) FIRST Tech Challenge robotics team from Hurricane recently qualified for the FIRST World Championship for their third year in a row.
The team members, ranging in age from 13 to 17 years old, advanced to the Utah Regional Championships where they competed against 35 other teams from Utah, New Mexico, and Wyoming.
At the state level, they won the Motivate Award which celebrates a team who goes above and beyond in volunteering, mentoring and serving their community. They were also finalists for the Inspire, Think, and Connect awards.
Combined, these awards qualified them to be one of only two teams to advance from the region, along with The Masters from Pleasant Grove in northern Utah, to the FIRST World Championship to be held April 18-22 in Houston, Texas.
Coach Amy Hummel spoke with St. George News after touring with the team at IEM Automation in Hurricane, something she said impresses the judges during competitions.
“We are encouraged to meet with tech professionals in the local community and the kids learn about their technology and demonstrate what they are working on too,” she said. “The goal is for them to explore future job opportunities in the science, technology, engineering and math fields.”
TWCA is becoming known worldwide as the “Phineas and Ferb” robotics team because of their theme based on the Disney show. The Southern Utah-based team recently went viral after videos they created with cartoon creators Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh gained over 2 million views on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.
Hummel said even though the team has qualified three years in a row, they didn’t travel during “the coronavirus year,” making this the team’s second competition.
“To be nominated for an award would be exciting,” she said. “But the goal is meeting others with the same interests, learning from people from different cultures and experiencing a high level of competition. The first time we competed we finished middle of the pack. This will be our second time competing and the kids who didn’t graduate will have that experience.”
The youth have been fundraising to raise $14,000 needed for travel expenses to the championships in Texas.
Businesses and organizations such as RAM Aviation, Space and Defense, Sand Hollow Resort, Department of Defense, Utah STEM Action Center, St. George Area Economic Development, American Heritage Homes, Infowest, Sundance Media Group and the USU Rural Online Initiative have donated.
TWCA is less than $2,000 from reaching their goal. St. George News reminds readers to use proper discretion when making online donations.
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