More News

At the beginning of the school year, the prospects for the Walt Whitman High School Robotics Team looked bleak.

The CyVikes had dwindled from near 20 members to only four. Their partner school, Georgetown Day, had pulled out, taking a yearly $3,000 donation along with them. A parent who used to help run the team stopped after his child graduated. And the team's bank account was full of zeroes.

"We started out with nothing," said senior Emily Lutz. "It was kind of sad."

The students were just about ready to give up and quit FIRST Robotics, a national robotics competition. But what came next surprised even the most skeptical of students.

Two parents, both with robotics experience, stepped up to help run the squad. The team applied for a $5,000 NASA grant and won. Soon engineers from Georgetown University and local tech firms were showing up at the team's meetings, lending their expertise.

And, most importantly, the team swelled to 22 members.

"The team kind of seemed like it was on its way out," said junior Ian Simonson, 16. "Now we've got some money in the bank and we can focus on robots."

FIRST Robotics is a national robotics competition that tests students' engineering, programming and team-building skills. Each year more than 1,700 teams compete at regional robot competitions for a chance to go to the national championships, planned for Atlanta in April 2010.

The teens don't know what tasks the robot will be required to perform until they receive the kit from FIRST in January. In a past competition, teams had to build a robot that would complete laps around a barrier while moving balls around overpasses.

The team meets twice a week now, but once "build season" hits in January, the team will meet every day after school, and some weekends.

And, going with the theme of rebirth and change, the CyVikes recently changed their name to The Body Electric, derived from the Walt Whitman poem "I Sing the Body Electric."

The Body Electric's $5,000 NASA grant will cover the cost of the robot kit from FIRST, a must for the competition. And while the grant will help this year, the team knew it needed to build an infrastructure to support future squads.

Team members started created marketing materials, and sending them to companies including Lockheed Martin. Zeta Associates, a Fairfax, Va., communications company has stepped in to sponsor the team. Students also hold their own fundraisers.

"In many ways it's like a sports team," said Steve Silvia, one of the Body Electric's parent mentors. "You have to build a structure where you can phase students in, and not lose a step."

Students will also have to pay $150 to participate on the team this year.

Now, Lutz said, the fun can begin.

"Everything was so stressful and time-consuming, it's kind of nice to have that part done," she said. "Now we can actually use the money we've been raising."