Our 2025–2026 season was the first year of FTC for Team Octabots, and it was an exciting journey! Here is how we got started, what we achieved, and the people who helped us along the way.

1. Getting Started

Marcus High School's robotics teacher helped us get started by organizing an introductory robotics session and donating building blocks for our robot. The high school FTC team, Trial and Error, guided us through team registration and team formation.

2. Funding and Mentorship

We were fortunate to receive a grant from the Argosy Foundation, which helped us with our startup costs.

Our two high school mentors, Siddhu K. and Shreay A., guided us throughout the season. Our parents also supported us with funding, technical guidance, robot building, engineering portfolio preparation, and tournament support.

3. Learning from Experienced Teams

Experienced FTC teams Mechanical Advantage and Forged in Iron generously provided access to their full competition field and conducted helpful sessions to prepare us for tournaments. Their guidance helped us understand what to expect at competitions.

4. Our First Robot and Competition

With everyone's support and a lot of hard work, we built our first robot (Kobe) and competed in X-League competitions. We were excited to qualify for Semi-Regionals in our rookie year!

5. Community Outreach

We started giving back to our community by introducing younger students to STEM at Liberty Elementary School's Science Fair.

Our parents and team members also volunteered at FTC events to support other teams and give back to the FIRST community.

6. What We Learned

Our rookie year taught us that robotics is not just about building a robot. It is about teamwork, learning, problem-solving, and helping others.

We are grateful to all the mentors, teams, parents, and community members who helped us get started. We look forward to learning more and taking on new challenges in the seasons ahead!