ways looking to partner with sponsors and individ- uals to help bring robotics into the community. For information on sponsoring Even though they lost in the finals, S.W.A.T. had a great time at the Cow Town Throw- S.W.A.T., please contact us down this year. by sending an email to frc1806@gmail.com Team 1806 traded their hallow- Becker Lethcoe and Edward een costumes for S.W.A.T. camo Holicky performed at peak levels, on October 30th and 31st, as they maintaining the highest qualifica- In this Issue headed to Lee Summit High tion average at the event, and end- School in Lees Summit, Missouri. ing qualification matches seeded Page 1 The event called Cow Town first with an average score of Cow Town ThrowDown Throwdown is hosted by local 182.62. When it came to drafting, 2015 Lees Summit teams 1730 Team 1806 picked up team 1825, the Driven and 2001 HERMES. The Cyborgs from Lees Summit, 1763 Page 2 event is a favorite off season com- The Paseliens from Kansas City, Cow Town ThrowDown petition for the team and requires and 2335 Sargon from Prairie Vil- 2015 (continued) using last seasons robot and lage. game rules. Cow Town bridges the 1806 consistently put up the S.W.A.T. Students at gap between Worlds and the highest numbers by far in the first TSA Leadership FIRST Kickoff in January and few rounds of eliminations match- Page 3 helps to get the team excited for es and it looked as if the team the upcoming season. would sweep the competition. But S.W.A.T. Member of S.W.A.T did what they do best, the second seeded alliance cap- the Month Becker consistently putting up four six tote tained by 525 Swart Dogs from Lethcoe stacks with a container and noodle Cedar Falls, Iowa started putting S.W.A.T. at Harvesters for 42 points a stack, adding big up similar numbers. scores to their alliance. Drivers (continued page 2) Page 4 S.W.A.T. Hosts FTC November Newsletter
Cow Town Throwdown 2015 (continued)
The two alliances clashed in the finals as S.W.A.T. took the first match of the series. But in the second and third matches S.W.A.T. ran into mechanical problems, and ultimately lost to the Swart Dogs in the finals. The team didnt go home empty handed however, as they were awarded for being fi- nalists as well as winning the Driven to Suc- ceed award which celebrates a team's overall effort in the competition. It is based on robot design, team effort, and gracious profession- alism.
S.W.A.T. was known at the event for their consistent
stacks of six totes, can and noodle, as seen pictured left.
S.W.A.T. Students at Technology Student
Association Leadership Conference S.W.A.T. recently sent a small group of their youngest and brightest members to a TSA Leader- ship convention in Rolla, Missouri. TSA is a non- profit organization that stands for Technology Stu- dent Association. The group aims to teach leader- ship and provide opportunities through science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). TSA lives by the motto Learning to live in a tech- nical world, and backs that up with preparing stu- dents for roles in those industries and on their ro- botics teams. TSA is also what provides the basis of the for- mal parliamentary style meetings S.W.A.T. holds once every two weeks. The students who went learned a lot about good leadership qualities in a technological environment in the short time they were there. It was a great experience to go out there and learn a lot about the traits of a good lead- er, said Cam Lethcoe, an active student who took S.W.A.T. students (top left to right) Lauren Kirtley, Baileigh part in the convention. This convention was a fan- Kienzle and Regan Fish (bottom, left to right) Chance Sports- tastic event to help students learn the ropes of lead- man, Edward Holicky, Cam Lethcoe and Blaize Madrid-Evans. ership so that they can apply it back to their teams and even in their future job. With the help of TSA and all that they do, we can truly learn to live in a technical world. S.W.A.T. at S.W.A.T. Member of the Harvesters Month Becker Lethcoe
Team 1806 along with some members
of Smithvilles FFA Chapter recently took part in their biannual trip to Harvesters on Becker Lethcoe joined S.W.A.T. as a freshman and has been November 12, 2015 in downtown Kansas actively involved ever since. City, in an effort to reach out to the commu- nity. Team S.W.A.T. had a great turnout of Officially the candidate for having some fun, students who came to help bagged food for Becker Lethcoe exudes S.W.A.T. spirit. Our team captain Harvesters BackSnack program which the this year, Becker makes sure that the team is hyped be- team has helped out with before. It is a fore every competition by playing the Cory in the House goal of S.W.AT. to give back to the commu- theme song. He also manages the electrical team, helps nity due to the great support that we get with fabrication, and is our driver. Between his major from the people of the area. We greatly ap- S.W.A.T. roles, and Student Council, and NHS, Becker is preciate the support we receive and thus a busy man. love opportunities to give back. All in all, Becker joined the team as a freshman, motivated the two groups managed to put together by his love of robotics, and has kept with it all the way 2,060 bags for the BackSnack program, into his senior year. Throughout this long robotics career, which is 10% of the 20,000 bags that Har- Beckers favorite event was the 2015 OKC Regional, vesters sends home with local kids each where we captained the winning alliance and won with week. our homies Team SCREAM, 4522. After he graduates next year, Becker plans on attending MIT with a major in mechanical engineering. Beyond that, his plans boil down to two words: get money. The SWAT experience surprised Becker when he first joined. The team is fairly hands-off. I didn't expect this and it was hard to adapt to, but in the long run it's made me a better thinker and problem solver, since I was ex- pected to learn a lot on my own. He attributes a lot of the teams success to our amazing mentors and the long hours team members contribute. As much as he helps the team, the team has taught him a lot too. I've learned to work with a team towards a common goal. Every year's FRC challenge is way too much for any one per- son to do, so you have to learn to work well with others and work around each team member's strengths and weaknesses. We all hope that Becker can bring the exu- berant energy he gives the team into his life, college and beyond! Mark Your Calendars S.W.A.T. Hosts FTC Tournament at Smithville FRC Kickoff is S.W.A.T. will be hosting an FTC Qualifier event on Saturday, January Saturday, December 12th. The event will be held at 9th! the high school in the main gym and is free and Check out open to the public. If you are interested in volunteer- http://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/frc ing to be a judge, field referee, or any other position for more details! please contact Mr. Jason Jones at jonesj@smithville.k12.mo.us or Mr. Scott Vitek at viteks@smithville.k12.mo.us for more information. If you aren't interested in volunteering, we highly encourage you to come out and see for yourself what these kids are capable of doing! This years Visit our Website! FTC game Res-Q promises to be a fun and exciting www.smithvillehighrobotics.com/ game to watch! Two of our own teams of sopho- mores and freshman will be competing along with many other area teams. Opening Ceremonies start And Follow us on at 11:50 and Qualification matches start at 12:15. Twitter! @frc1806 We hope to see you there!
Thank You Sponsors!
Darrell Smith Benjamin L. Westman, DDS Bill & Bonita Farrell
Russell & Betty Woollums Paul and Dawn Clouse Earl & Diane Soetaert Dave Telles Denny & Nancy Lowe G. Gupta Chuck & Joan Hitchborn Ron & Mary Kay Grusenmeyer