PAHS Weather Capital Robotics Program takes second place against 64 other teams | Jeffersonian Democrat

PUNXSUTAWNEY — When people think of “Punxsutawney,” most associate the town with everyone’s favorite groundhog, but the Punxsutawney Area High School’s robotics program is making a strong impression, too.

The Punxsutawney Area High School’s Weather Capital Robotics Program recently competed at Penn West California University of Pennsylvania against 64 other robotics teams from nearly 50 different school districts.

Punxsutawney’s bot, “Rider in Red,” placed 2nd in the Grand Champion standings, a feat which has been achieved three times in the sixteen-year tenure of the program. The score was based on their arena performance as well as their documentation and interview performances. They also took 4th place recognition for “Best Engineered Robot.”

Members of the team included Becca Martin, Avary Powell, Megan Troutman, Jacob Defoor, Casein Barnoff, Ryen Hartzfeld, Joe Bowser, Kurtis Pavlosky, Kolston Gould, Miles Conrad, Riley Songer, Elijah Pequeen, Chase Smith, and Riley Shrecengost.

Kevin Hughes, advisor to the program and veteran technology education teacher stated that this year every student was focused on placing in the top 10 at the final competition. While he acknowledges that the program has been in “growth-mode” since 2020, involvement is finally reaching pre-pandemic numbers.

“I love watching what these kids can do given the opportunity. Their ability to assess and troubleshoot under pressure is impressive.” added Hughes.

Punxsutawney will now move on to compete at a national-level competition at Robert Morris University on May 17th and 18th.