The CMT-sponsored team, Iron Aresenal, took the 3rd place Connect Award at the 2019 Illinois FIRSTTech Championship Tournament at Elgin Community College this weekend. The Connect Award is given to the team that most connects with their local science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) community.

The tournament hosted 44 teams, with up to 15 team members from grades 7-12. Each team is challenged to design, build, program, and operate robots to compete in a head-to-head competition. Guided by adult coaches, like Kyle Blais and Michelle Ryan — and mentors, like Tim Sumner and Lana Sumner from CMT — students develop STEM skills and practice engineering principles. Teams design and build the robots, raise funds, market their team brand, and complete community outreach to earn awards.