West Coast Robotics team from Bandon High School

Guest Contributor: Martha Kemple

Congratulations to the Bandon High School Robotics Team, otherwise known in competition as West Coast Robotics 3.0.  Team members Kyle Brown (Gr. 11) Austin Panter (Gr. 11), and Nick Turner (Gr.10) competed in the FIRST Tech Challenge Qualifying Tournament on Saturday, January 28, at Oregon State University and came in 7th out of 25 in the qualifying matches, made it to the semifinals, and qualified for the next round of competition in two weeks! The team also earned the Judges Award which is one that is not given very often, and is for a team who really impressed the judges outside of the usual award categories. The tournament director said she could only remember this award being given 5 or 6 times over the many years she has been involved in the program. A trophy will be forthcoming–this will be the 8th one for the team in 3.5 years!

West Coast Robotics readies their robot for competition

Martha Kemple teaches Robotics, Computer Applications, and Digital Photography at Bandon High School, and is Advisor for the Yearbook and the Robotics teams participating in FIRST Tech Challenge and the MATE ROV Competition.  She also teaches Technology classes to 7th and 8th graders at Harbor Lights Middle School. She has a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Portland State University and worked for the Bonneville Power Administration in various computer-related positions before earning a Master of Arts in Teaching from George Fox University. She has taught everything from second grade through college students.