The Globe High School Tiger Robotics Program began in 2013.  Globe Unified School District Superintendent, Jerry Jennex, began the implementation process during the 2012-13 school year by approaching one of our major regional corporate sponsors with a request for a school STEM grant.  Our proposal was awarded providing us the required startup funding along with a 3 year promise of support.

We registered our GHS team with the FIRST (“For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology”) organization during the fall of 2013 with a small core team of 5 students, 1 coordinator and 2 community mentors. FIRST is an international organization that brings together students and professionals in a creative enterprise of build ing a robot to solve a specific  challenge each annual competition cycle.  Each team has the opportunity to present their proposal by submitting a written component outlining the team’s solution to the given challenge and compete with the team’s ‘Robot’ during the actual competitive event(s).  FIRST Robotics explains their mission as “a community based program focusing on building a better world for tomorrow by engaging students in challenging STEM projects.” "USFIRST.org." 

Our team grew to 10 by the competition in March 2014, with a successfully engineered robot satisfying the FIRST’s required specifications.  Our efforts were rewarded with the esteemed ‘Rookie Team’ award.  Along with a trophy, the honor included a small three year endowment from Science Foundation Arizona allowing the GHS Tiger Robotics team to further the team’s uphill progress.

2015 was a an epic year for our team! TigeRobotics team size almost doubled with a dedicated crew of students and mentors.  A successful alliance formation at the Arizona West Regional FIRST Competition led to a victory.  The team was invited to attend the World Championships in St. Louis , MO during April 22-25.  The TigeRobotics finished almost halfway up their division during the event, an impressive showing whilst playing among over 600 elite teams.  Up next?  The team will represent GHS at the AIA State Championships in Prescott, AZ on May 22 & 23.  Keep posted for results!

The GHS Tiger Robotics team has a goal of not only increasing our team’s participation numbers, but to also create teams in our regional primary and middle schools along with assisting our neighboring district High Schools in initiating their own Robotics clubs.  We will follow the FIRST Robotics program progression of FIRST Lego League (Grades 2-4), FIRST Tech Challenge (Grades 5-8) and FIRST Robotics Challenge (Grades 7-12).  The current team already participates in several community events promoting STEM awareness including our annual District Science Fair, STEM Fest, Library Summer Reading Program and the newest STEM addition,a Friday STEM club for grades K-8 held at the Globe Public Library.  We hope that spreading awareness throughout the community will encourage more 2nd-12th grade students to become involved with the program and excited about what the STEM fields offer in terms of academic and career opportunities.