The Poplar Bluff High School Iron Mules vied in the FIRST Tech Challenge State Championship for Missouri and Kansas robotics teams earlier this month at the Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla.

While the fluctuating ranking for the robotics club reached as high as 11^th place during the six matches, the Iron Mules did not qualify to advance to nationals this year. A total of 36 out of 126 teams in the region were invited to participate in the bi-state championship.

“The team members enjoyed the competition and have already been talking about what they can do to improve for next year,” reported Kathy Miller, their coach.

The Iron Mules competed in three preliminary events over the past few months, ultimately qualifying for the championship in two different ways: placing second in the league and winning the Think award, designated for the team whose engineering notebook best reflects the journey during build season as determined by a state judging committee.

In addition, the Iron Mules took home the Winning Alliance honor along with a team from Kennett during a Southeast Missouri qualifying event held virtually last month, plus won the second place Connect award for building relationships with the local STEM community (science, technology, engineering and math).

The robotics club began the 2021/22 season by hosting the Kickin' It With The Mules event in December at PBHS, followed by participating in the Jackson League Meet in January. The Iron Mules placed second at both competitions, adding to a successful season.

PBHS founded its robotics club in 2013 through the FIRST organization, which stands for: For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.

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Cutline: Pictured on Saturday, March 5, at Missouri S&T are (back row, from left) Rylan Roach, William Martin, Carter Scobey, James Conley-Halliburton and Alex Guo; and (front row, left to right) coach Kathy Miller, assistant coach Mike Sowatzke, William Montgomery, Jared Gilham, Halee Harrell, Jaron Shi and Hailey Burton. Not pictured are Isaac Pry and Walker Rowland.