Los Alamos Middle School Robotics Team Places Second Regionally

Alpha Hawks Robotics Team 7813 of Los Alamos Middle School captured second place at the New Mexico regional FIRST Tech Challenge qualifying event held December 13 at La Academia de Esperanza Charter School in Albuquerque. The regional drew seventeen teams from New Mexico and Arizona for the season challenge titled Decode, and Los Alamos students won three of five preliminary matches to be seeded seventh going into alliance competition.

FIRST Tech Challenge events use alliance play, where teams partner during elimination rounds to pursue scoring objectives with robots they design, build and program. Students on the Alpha Hawks handled engineering and programming responsibilities, applying classroom learning to real world robotics tasks and on site strategy. The team’s performance in a competitive field underscored both technical skill and effective teamwork among middle school students.

For Los Alamos County the result is significant for several reasons. A second place regional finish demonstrates a maturing STEM after school program at the middle school level, and it provides tangible evidence that local students are acquiring engineering, coding and problem solving skills that support future academic and career pathways. Coaches and community mentors who supported the team were visibly invested in the students’ progress, and the outcome is likely to encourage continued volunteer involvement and community support for robotics and STEM activities in the county.

The event also highlights the role of regional competitions in exposing students to collaborative formats and performance pressure, experiences that mirror professional technical work and civic engagement. As schools and local leaders consider education priorities and extracurricular funding, the Alpha Hawks’ success offers a datapoint for discussions about sustaining and expanding hands on STEM opportunities for younger students.

The team’s result was celebrated by the school community and will be part of ongoing efforts to showcase student achievement in science and technology across Los Alamos County.