by Lake Washington High School’s Robotics team.

Lake Washington High School’s Robotics team, known as 5827 Code Purple, has had a great year. After the FIRST organization announced the Rapid React game in January, students on the team have worked tirelessly to design, build, and code a robot to take to FRC competitions. The team attended two local events in April and they ended up winning the event hosted by Sammamish High School, where they also won an award for the robot’s autonomous code.

Code Purple then went on with 50 other top teams in the Pacific Northwest District (which includes teams from Oregon and Alaska) to compete at the District Championships in Cheney, WA, April 7-9. Their performance has earned them a spot in the top 18 teams that are now invited to compete in Houston, Texas April 20-23, amongst the top 378 teams in the world. This is a prestigious honor, and the team is very excited.

“I have been dreaming of going to the World Championship since ninth grade,” says LWHS senior Nick Maffeo. He is the current CEO and captain of the drive team. “The Pacific Northwest Division has become incredibly competitive in the past five years, and I am very proud of the hard work that the team has put into our success.”