How would the FIRST Robotics Force Team 1073, of Hollis Brookline Middle School, describe their team?

Six weeks, 15 mentors, 60 friends, more than 1,008 hours, one robot and infinite opportunities.

Team 1073 helps students gain knowledge of new subjects and have fun while inspiring them to appreciate STEM fields by challenging them to research, design, build, program and operate robots for competition. Adult mentors help along the way, while the students take ownership of various diverse projects to make the entire team successful. Competitions allow teams to show off the hard work spent building, strategizing and programming.

Team 1073 helps contribute to their community by helping out organizations such as the Hollis Woman’s Club with events and fundraisers, which include the apple and strawberry festivals in Hollis. They’ve also participated in Techfest in Windham, and have hosted multiple First Lego League and Jr. First Lego League events. Their community efforts also lead to a continually successful sponsor support network.

This year the robotics competition is a medieval-style game called Stronghold, which features defenses, towers and robots. A team can play defense or offense; offensive teams need to to score the most points in certain periods of time, while defensive teams try to prevent goals from being made. Points are made by breaking barriers or scoring on low or high goals.

Recently, 1073 traveled to the North Shore District event. Despite difficulties with their robot, they were able to defend their goal extremely well. In elimination matches, Team 1073 was the 21st seed and accepted an alliance with FRC Team 4311 from Swampscott, Mass., and FRC team 5752 from Beverly, Mass.

Soon they’ll be going to an important competition held at Agganis Arena at Boston University on Saturday-Sunday, April 2-3.

Going to competitions is a great experience with a great team. You can learn about FIRST and support the local high school by attending an event for Team 1073.

For more information about FIRST Robotics, visit www.USFIRST.org.