By Monica Holmes
Circulation Manager    

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he First Flight High School Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Team will have a shot at winning the international competition. The team won the regional competition for the Mid-Atlantic states in Norfolk, Virginia at Old Dominion University on Saturday April 27th. They are making preparations to compete at the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center’s International Competition in the Seattle-Tacoma area of Washington in June.

“Getting to travel to Seattle really introduces different aspects of our country to the team,” team member Ashton Harrell said. “No one on the team has ever been to Seattle before so this is definitely a new and interesting experience.”

The international competition brings a variety of people from all around the globe, drawing in around 40 schools. Throughout its six years of history, the FFHS team has advanced to the international competition five times. Previously, FFHS teams have placed 1st in Hawaii, 4th in Texas and 6th in California and Massachusetts.

Even though they did not do as well as they expected last year, team member Scott Blankenburg is confident in his team’s abilities.

“I am anxious to see how we we will do in the competition this year because of our shortcomings last year, however I am pretty confident in our ability to do well,” Blankenburg said.

Fundraising is a large part of the ROV Team and it happened in two parts this year, adviser Andrew Thomas said. First, in order to build the ROV, the team hosted a car wash, which raised $1,400. They also received a $500 donation from the PTSO for construction cost. Now the team must raise around $13,000 to go to the international competition. This price includes hotels, flights, ground transportation, shipping the ROV and other small things that could come up, Thomas said.

“Fundraising for the ROV Team’s success is essential,” Thomas said. “We are an extracurricular club, without school facilities or direct funding.”

Due to the short amount of time between the regional and international competition the team doesn’t have long to raise money. The team members will go out into the community and try to receive donations from businesses and other community organizations, Thomas said. For donations, especially large donations, the team offers sponsorships. This includes logo placement on the ROV and media releases in the local paper and on the internet.

“The largest donor has the opportunity to name the ROV,” said Thomas.  “Without the help of the community, this program does not exist.”

Send comments toholmesmo0626@daretolearn.org