Ten students make up South Lake Tahoe's community-based First Tech Challenge Robotics team

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The community-based First Tech Challenge Robotics team from South Lake Tahoe has been in Northern Nevada League events and currently rests in fifth in the 15-team league.

They competed in their first Northern Nevada League Meet on November 17 and placed 4th, followed by a fifth-place finish on December 8 at the Innevation Center's K-12 Robotics Center in Reno.

Their next event is coming up in Reno on January 19.

Ten students are competing on the South Lake Tahoe team, eight middle schoolers and two high schoolers:

Jay Feeney
Logan Habicht
Connor Habicht
Jude James
Asher Jones
Lyla Landy
Jackson Letton
Jacob Lucas
Arya Saini
Arden Vinson

Monique LeMay and David Wise are the two coaches.

Wise got the team started with local parents by applying to FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 2021. They received a rookie grant to start a community-based First Tech Challenge Robotics team.

Tahoe STEM Academy is sponsoring the team, along with some generous donations from parents and other community members to purchase the parts and other things required to compete. They've been meeting at the City Recreation Center for practices, which kindly donated space, Wise said.

There are two meets in January and February, then the Northern Nevada League Tournament at the end of February to determine if they advance (schedule is here). The South Lake Tahoe team is # 20681 and the kids picked their name, Giga Bite.