Flint Hill Double 0 Ducks Competes in Regional Championship

Flint Hill First Tech Challenge Robotics Team #6341, the Double 0 Ducks, competed in the Chesapeake Regional Championship on April 9th.

This season, over 300 robotics teams in Virginia, Maryland, and D.C. competed for the 80 spots in the championship.

Flint Hill Double 0 Ducks earned their spot in December by winning their qualifying competition in Laurel, Maryland. At the championship, the field was split into two days, 40 teams each, and the Double 0 Ducks came in 13th place out of the 40 who competed on Saturday.

"These talented students have been working on their robot since early September. They quickly came together as a team and worked hard to achieve their goals. I look forward to working with them next year on the Advanced Aerial Robotics team," said Mr. Snyder, Upper School computer science and robotics teacher.

The team was made up of 7 huskies: Sabrina Michl '25, Charlie Hutchens '25, Zachary Chang '25, Evan Demsey '25, and Daniel Kalan '25, Ben Hinrichs '24, Alex Deleage '23. The team not only played in 5 matches on Saturday, but they also presented their season's work to a panel of judges.

Double 0 Ducks were one of three teams in the robotics activity mentored by Flint Hill Faculty: Michael Snyder, Blair McAvoy and Andrew Tran.

The other two teams are eMushers and Peeking Duck. At the Qualifying Competition in Laurel, Maryland, in December, eMushers got 2nd place for the Innovate Award. The Innovate Award celebrates a team that thinks outside the box and has the ingenuity, creativity, and inventiveness to make their designs come to life. The award is given out by the judges and given to the team that has the most innovative and creative robot design solution.

"I am proud of how the kids came together as a team. It was a pleasure coaching them through the season, and I can't wait to see what these kids bring into next season," said Mr. Tran, Upper School science teacher.

The end of this season marks the last year Mr. Snyder will serve as the lead coach of the robotics activity, with Ms. McAvoy leading the team next year.

"I am so proud of the way that these students worked together this year. They began with very little experience, but each member put in the work to make the best robot they could. They respected each other's creative ideas and held each other accountable for their work, completely embodying our core values, respect and value all equally and blaze the trail. The team's success this year is proof that a strong work ethic and good working relationships can make up for a lack of experience," said Ms. McAvoy, Middle School and Upper School computer science and robotics teacher.