Congratulations to our girls in the South! The robotics team at AMIT Kamah Yeruham High School for Girls won the FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge) National Robotics Competition this week and was chosen to represent Israel at the world championship to be held in St. Louis, Missouri.
The FTC competition, for 8th, 9th and 10th graders, took place this week in Raanana. Teams from all across Israel entered the competition with the robots they had programmed and built. The robots competed on their ability to collect balls, climb a hill and protect themselves against rival robots. The AMIT Kamah team won the prestigious Inspire Award. According to the FTC, “This judged award is given to the Team that truly embodied the ‘challenge’ of the FTC program. The Team that receives this award is a strong ambassador for FIRST programs and a role model FTC Team. . . . The Inspire Award winner is an inspiration to other Teams, acting with Gracious Professionalism™ both on and off the Playing Field. This Team is able to communicate their experiences, enthusiasm and knowledge to other Teams, sponsors, their community, and the Judges.”
An integral part of the FTC project is community involvement. Teams choose a project in their local communities and spend the year engaging in this project. The AMIT Kamah girls adopted the elementary school in a nearby Bedouin village in order to teach the children robotics and help them establish their own independent robotics team. Adele Weizmann, the team captain, reflected on her experience. “We were very excited about winning and especially about working with Bedouin students. We believe we can impact the community through science and robotics and hope to be an inspiration to other students,” said Adele. The robotics program at Kamah is also a family affair; two of the team’s mentors are engineers and fathers of AMIT Kamah students.
Michael Biton, the mayor of Yeruham, is proud of his young constituents. “AMIT Kamah girls proved that religious girls in the Negev can lead the country in technology and science. The young leaders persevered, built an ingenious robot, excelled at team work and contributed to the community. For this they won first place and will represent Israel in the international competition. This is an achievement for the girls themselves, AMIT Kamah and the City of Yeruham,” said Mayor Biton.
