The Mathews High School Robotics Team is hard at work on its entry for the 2011 US FIRST Robotics competition. On Saturday, Jan. 8, team members attended the regional kickoff meeting at the Virginia Air & Space Center in Hampton.

More than 60 high schools from North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland gathered in Hampton to learn what tasks their robots must perform for the competition, which will be held on April 7, 8 and 9 at Richmond’s VCU Siegel Center.

MHS has participated in the US FIRST competition since 2003. During this time, the school has been highly successful in designing and building winning robots, frequently qualifying for the national competition, which is usually held in Atlanta.

While the school has had success on the playing field, the team hasn’t been successful in raising funds necessary to compete at the national level. Despite all efforts to keep costs at a minimum, taking part in both the regional and national competition requ...