Alconbury High School Robotics Team Supports Regional Teams Ahead of Championship
ALCONBURY, United Kingdom — The Alconbury High School Robotics Team has spent months preparing for this year’s Department of War Education Activity FIRST Tech Challenge DECODE Championship by hosting scrimmages, mentoring student teams, and supporting robotics programs across the Cambridgeshire region of the United Kingdom.
Advised by Mr. Frank Guyer, the Alconbury team began preparations in September by organizing collaborative scrimmage events designed to help regional teams strengthen their engineering design, programming, and competition strategies. Through these efforts, the team supported 15 robotics teams, helping expand student engagement in STEM education while fostering teamwork and leadership development.
Alconbury team members Harvey, Darian, and Josiah played a significant role in leading four scrimmage events that simulated official competition conditions. During these events, they provided constructive feedback, technical guidance, and strategic coaching to participating teams as they refined their robot designs and gameplay approaches.
The scrimmages featured a fast-paced two-versus-two basketball-style robotics challenge that required teams to demonstrate engineering innovation, programming precision, alliance coordination, and real-time problem-solving skills. Throughout the events, students displayed the FIRST Tech Challenge principle of gracious professionalism by supporting fellow competitors and promoting collaboration across teams.
“I’m so glad I was able to attend the event. We wouldn’t have a working robot without the help from the Alconbury robotics team,” said one participating student competitor. “Their knowledge and explanation of the game was so helpful, and now I feel so much more prepared for the event.”
The Alconbury Robotics Team will join other Department of War Education Activity teams at the FIRST Tech Challenge DECODE Championship scheduled for Feb. 20–21 at Kaiserslautern High School in Kaiserslautern, Germany. Community members and families can attend the event in person or follow live coverage through the Student Activities social media channels on Feb. 21 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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Participation in robotics competitions supports Strategic Goal 1: Student Excellence by providing students with opportunities to apply STEM concepts in real-world challenges while developing collaboration, communication, and leadership skills. The mentorship efforts demonstrated by the Alconbury team also support Strategic Goal 4: Organizational Excellence by strengthening partnerships and student leadership opportunities across Department of War Education Activity schools.
The Department of War Education Activity remains committed to preparing military-connected students for success through innovative learning experiences aligned with the Blueprint for Continuous Improvement.
