Perham robotics team seeks community support for Texas world championship bid

The Perham High School Full Metal Jackets are asking the community to help cover a $35,000 trip to Houston for the FIRST Championship, where Team 3297 will compete April 29 through May 2 at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

The robotics team, based at Perham High School in Perham, has turned its World Championship run into a community fundraiser, with a potato bar and silent auction planned and donations of auction items still being sought. The goal is straightforward: help pay for travel, lodging, registration and equipment costs that come with sending a student robotics team to a world-stage event in Texas.

This is not a routine season for the Full Metal Jackets. Perham-Dent Public Schools said the team earned its championship berth after a standout performance at the 10,000 Lakes Regional, where it finished first in qualification matches, became the first alliance captain and placed third in the playoffs. The district said the first-place qualification finish was the first time the team had ever done that in its 15-year history.

FIRST lists the Full Metal Jackets as Team 3297 in the FIRST Robotics Competition, with a rookie year of 2010. Event records show the team had made one trip to the FIRST Championship before this current run, and the booster club page says the group was invited to Houston for the second year in a row.

The scale of the challenge helps explain the fundraising push. FIRST says the 2026 FIRST Championship will bring 336 teams to Houston, underscoring how rare and competitive a place in the field has become. For Perham, that means a team from Otter Tail County is preparing to stand alongside some of the strongest student robotics programs in the world.

The fundraiser gives businesses, families and supporters a direct way to back that effort. A potato bar offers a familiar local gathering point, while the silent auction opens the door for donated items that can help push the team closer to its target. For students, the event is about more than a trip south. It is the financial bridge between a regional breakthrough and a chance to put Perham on the world stage.