THE DALLES — “Robotics in The Dalles is growing,” said The Dalles High School Teacher Mark McAllester in a city council meeting on April 8. The Council began the evening by honoring two high school robotics teams, Syntax Error and System Overload and the middle school team, Disconauts, who will be advancing to the World Robotics Championships in Dallas, Texas at the end of this month. “In the five years I’ve been mayor, we’ve honored state softball teams, state champion track athletes, honor roll students and people who have achieved many significant achievements statewide, but I don’t think we’ve ever honored anybody who has cleaned up the way you guys have,” said Mayor Rich Mays.
Robotics competitions pit multiple teams of students against one another to design, build and program robots that compete under a time limit in various challenges. These educational leagues offer students hands-on experience with engineering and problem-solving.
Robotics teams from The Dalles swept the Oregon State Robotics Championships, earned top honors at both the middle and high school competitions, won championships and awards for excellence.
Competing together for six years, System Overload is the third-time state champion this year and making their fourth trip to the world championships. System Overload, comprised of juniors and sophomore, will make their second trip to the world championships. “It’s the first year the Disconauts have been together competing in the middle school division, so this is their first year at Worlds,” McAllister said. All three teams will travel to Dallas, Texas, to compete in the 2024 VEX Robotics World Championship Apr 25 through May 3. According to the event website, the championships will host 10,000 spectators. Friends and family can also watch The Dalles teams compete from home on VEX TV, the competition’s streaming website.
VEX is a Texas-based program run by the Robotics Education and Competition Foundation and includes 20,000 teams from 50 countries, according to RoboticsEvents.com. The program came to the The Dalles through the Wasco County 4H.
“It’s really fun to see these kids grow every year, and their robots become more and more sophisticated,” McAllister said. “As parents and helpers, we’re all really proud.” Mays handed out golden-sealed awards to each of the student members of Syntax Error, System Overload and the Disconauts.
Other council business on April 8 included distributing city employee awards, and approving city road repair contracts. The Council awarded a $165,594 crack-sealing contract to CR Contracting LLC out of Bend, and a $153,417 contract for a life-extending road application called an “asphalt slurry seal” to a statewide road maintenance company, Pave Northwest.
