About Us
Firestone High School is one of nine High Schools in the Akron Public Schools District. Firestone is a Project Lead the Way certified school, and all students on our robotics teams must be PLTW students.
Our teams are made up of students who devote their time after school, on the weekends, over summer vacation, and on holiday breaks to the program's Engineering and Robotics Club, run by our teacher, Mr. Dan Spak.
Since 2012, our club's first year participating in VEX Robotics, we have grown in number and in skill, starting out as a team that didn't even make it to alliance selections, to a team that made it to the World Competition - twice!
Our club is very diverse. Our members ranging from freshmen to seniors, some having no experience in robotics, and others having more than four years of experience.
Our club meets twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30 pm to 6:00 pm, to design, build, program, and test our robots. Through it all, we learn, grow, and have a lot of fun.
Please explore our site. Our individual team pages can be found below, as well as the pages of our faculty, alumni, and booster club.
Firestone High School is one of nine High Schools in the Akron Public Schools District. Firestone is a Project Lead the Way certified school, and all students on our robotics teams must be PLTW students.
Our teams are made up of students who devote their time after school, on the weekends, over summer vacation, and on holiday breaks to the program's Engineering and Robotics Club, run by our teacher, Mr. Dan Spak.
Since 2012, our club's first year participating in VEX Robotics, we have grown in number and in skill, starting out as a team that didn't even make it to alliance selections, to a team that made it to the World Competition - twice!
Our club is very diverse. Our members ranging from freshmen to seniors, some having no experience in robotics, and others having more than four years of experience.
Our club meets twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30 pm to 6:00 pm, to design, build, program, and test our robots. Through it all, we learn, grow, and have a lot of fun.
Please explore our site. Our individual team pages can be found below, as well as the pages of our faculty, alumni, and booster club.
The History of Club
Our Engineering Club originally started in 2012, when a group of students wanted to spend more time outside of school doing Engineering related tasks and projects. One of the activities they wished to pursue was VEX Robotics. In their Principles of Engineering (POE) class, they had used the starter robotics kits and thought they were fascinating. They did more research into the company, and found out that VEX had competitive robot competitions all around the world.
Our Engineering Club originally started in 2012, when a group of students wanted to spend more time outside of school doing Engineering related tasks and projects. One of the activities they wished to pursue was VEX Robotics. In their Principles of Engineering (POE) class, they had used the starter robotics kits and thought they were fascinating. They did more research into the company, and found out that VEX had competitive robot competitions all around the world.
2011-2012 |
In the first year, the students had little understanding of how VEX worked, underestimating the value of a cortex, batteries, and motors. The very first robot dubbed, "Stringbot" is shown in the picture to the left. Rather than using motors for the whole robot, they used motors purely for the drivetrain, and string for the rest, hence the nickname "Stringbot." The robot was not competition ready, and never truly left the engineering room. It didn't run and was more of an experiment than anything else. The team reflected back on their robot, vowing that in the next year they would actually compete, and that the club would continue on.
2012-2013 |
The following year, all of the people who worked on "Stringbot" had graduated, and another group of student took over including, David Cardew, Lilith Freed, Kerry Holmes, Christopher Morris, Alex Horwitz, Jasper Nitzsche, Tyler Stallsmith, Josh Hoffman, and Cecilia Carter.
A new VEX game was introduced, called "Sack Attack". They built the robot shown to the right, and it was their first year competing. This robot made it to a competition, but never made it to the alliance selection, after which the quarter, semi, and finals occur. The robot itself was barely functional, but was an improvement on their previous robot.
A new VEX game was introduced, called "Sack Attack". They built the robot shown to the right, and it was their first year competing. This robot made it to a competition, but never made it to the alliance selection, after which the quarter, semi, and finals occur. The robot itself was barely functional, but was an improvement on their previous robot.
2013-2014 |
VEX Robotics changes up the game every year. The game for 2014 was called Toss Up. Members from the previous year remained. They continued building and learning. Others wanted to join and the after school club almost doubled in size and added two more teams.
Team 7316A was comprised of: Kerry Holmes, Chris Morris, Tyler Stallsmith, Jasper Nitzsche, and Erica Kraus.
Team 7316B was comprised of: Lilith Freed, Melissa Cardew, Haley Calhoun, and Alex Horowitz
Team 7316C was comprised of: Josh Hoffman, Steven Edwards, Chris Wertenberger, Aaron Bowie, and Abi Orosz.
Two of the teams competed at regional VEX Robotics Competitions. At one of their regional competitions, team 7316A won the Excellence Award, granting them a trip to the VEX Robotics State of Ohio Competition. At States, they won the Deign Award, and qualified for the World Competition in Anaheim, California. All after only two years at the competitive level!
Team 7316A was comprised of: Kerry Holmes, Chris Morris, Tyler Stallsmith, Jasper Nitzsche, and Erica Kraus.
Team 7316B was comprised of: Lilith Freed, Melissa Cardew, Haley Calhoun, and Alex Horowitz
Team 7316C was comprised of: Josh Hoffman, Steven Edwards, Chris Wertenberger, Aaron Bowie, and Abi Orosz.
Two of the teams competed at regional VEX Robotics Competitions. At one of their regional competitions, team 7316A won the Excellence Award, granting them a trip to the VEX Robotics State of Ohio Competition. At States, they won the Deign Award, and qualified for the World Competition in Anaheim, California. All after only two years at the competitive level!
2014-2015 |
During their trip home from World's the members of Team 7316A decided to split up the following year and work to spread their knowledge to other members of the Club, which had grown to twenty-two members with five competitive teams.. Two of theses teams advanced to States, but neither earned an invitation to Worlds. However, the goal of spreading knowledge had been successful and the Club gained a lot of momentum.
2015-2016
The original Worlds team had now graduated but all that we learned from them remained with us and we experienced huge improvements over the course of this season. Four of our five teams qualified for the State Competition. At States, three teams (C, D, and E) advanced to quarterfinals. Placed in different brackets, Team E ended up eliminating Teams C and D, then powered through to win the State Title! For the second time, one of our teams advanced to the World Competition. Team E traveled to the World Competition in Louisville, KY, where they became one of only five teams worldwide to win the Judges Award. By the end of the year, our teams had accumulated five excellence awards, three design awards, two tournament finalist awards, four tournament champion awards, one state championship award, and one international award.
2016-2017
Our club grew again this season and a sixth team was added.
Team F was not only a new team but our first team consisting of all female members. At the beginning of the year we made it our goal to send all six teams to the State Competition. We were extremely excited to make that goal a reality. While none of our six teams advanced any further, we had an amazing season.
Team F was not only a new team but our first team consisting of all female members. At the beginning of the year we made it our goal to send all six teams to the State Competition. We were extremely excited to make that goal a reality. While none of our six teams advanced any further, we had an amazing season.