Students from Woodhaven High School and Brownstown Middle School presented their robotics season results to the Woodhaven-Brownstown School District Board of Education, reporting competition wins, college scholarships and broad community outreach.
The high school team said it received roughly $450,000 in scholarships to institutions including the University of Michigan, Michigan Tech, Michigan State University, Kettering and Princeton, and that students have earned internships at GM, Altair, Ford and with the Michigan Senate. "They also get invaluable internship experiences," one student presenter said, linking competition experience to post‑secondary pathways.
Presenters described on‑field accomplishments: a first Impact Award at the Ferndale District event, an Engineering Inspiration Award at the Woodhaven event, a repeat first Impact Award at the Michigan championship and advancement to the FIRST world championship. They also described new robot capabilities this season, including swerve‑module drive, an eight‑foot elevator to score on high branches, and camera‑based odometry enabling an auto‑align and auto‑fire function.
The middle school FTC team 8777, the Goonies, summarized its season and outreach. The Goonies attended two qualifiers (Madison Heights and Grosse Pointe Woods), reached the playoffs as an alliance captain, and emphasized community projects—from delivering roses to seniors to partnering with local businesses and service clubs. The middle school team also runs a four‑week 'Goonies camp' to recruit 6th–7th graders into robotics.
Outreach figures presented to the board included 55 events over three years reaching about 5,700 people in person, two websites and multiple media appearances; team fundraising produced more than $15,000 in scholarships over three years. Board members and administrators thanked the students and sponsors for representing the district at regional, state and international levels.
The presentation concluded with a question-and-answer exchange about classroom visits and elementary outreach, where presenters said they led lessons in two schools and introduced basic physics concepts to roughly 60 children. Teachers and administrators reported positive feedback and gave the teams a formal thank-you.