Alpha Dogs: Leading the Pack, Season Summary for Humberview Secondary School Robotics Team

Hamilton Spectator

01-05-2025

The Alpha Dogs robotics team from Humberview Secondary School wrapped up their 12th season by competing in the FIRST Robotics World Championships held last week in Houston, TX.
FIRST is a global non-profit dedicated to inspiring students to pursue careers in STEM.
The competition placed the Alpha Dogs in the Galileo division, where they demonstrated their skills by going undefeated through the 10 qualification matches held on Thursday, April 17, and Friday, April 18.
It was here at the World Championships that the Alpha Dogs completed their long-term goal of competing in the Einsteins, the inter-divisional playoffs.
Although they were eventually eliminated from the playoffs, the team finished in an impressive 6th place overall.
Their global ranking is now 22nd out of 3690 teams, placing them in the top one percent.
In Canada, they ranked 4th out of 193 teams, and 4th in Ontario out of 130 teams.
This successful season has been a long time coming, as over their twelve years as a team, they've made numerous changes to strengthen not only their robots but their teamwork.
Becky Krauter, a mentor for the team and teacher at Humberview Secondary School, recounted what it was like when the team started.
Before they had use of Bolton Agricultural Society's President's building as a field, the team would painstakingly remove the tables from the cafeteria in their school at the end of the day to use as their practice field, only to put all the tables and chairs back hours later and repeat the next day.
'So that's been a huge game changer for us,' said Krauter. 'And we've noticed a huge growth in our ability to be successful.'
Successful they were, Krauter stated how Einsteins had been elusive to the team for many years.
'To be able to actually get there and compete was hugely exciting. The kids felt that huge sense of accomplishment of meeting that goal,' she said. 'For us as mentors it was huge because this has been sort of where we wanted the kids to get next. To be able to achieve that was really amazing, and then to go one further and actually win our first match was like icing on the cake.'
Krauter stated that although only senior team members could go, the entire team was cheering them on from home.
For Krauter, this was not the only accomplishment she saw, as the team demonstrated exceptional commitment throughout the season.
The team logs their hours, and this season, they amassed over 5,500 hours in total among the approximate 45 active students.
'They're passionate. They have excellent problem-solving skills, and they have excellent technical skills,' said Krauter.
At FIRST, the teams compete while maintaining two core values, Gracious Professionalism and Coopetition.
According to the FIRST website, 'Gracious professionalism proves that fierce competition and mutual gain coexist. Participants compete intensely while treating each other with respect and empathy.'
Coopetition means that teams help and cooperate with each other, even as they compete. It's about learning from teammates, teaching others, collaborating with mentors, managing and being managed.
It's these two values that Krauter has loved about robotics since she joined as a mentor seven years ago.
'As a teacher, I think these are huge skills or qualities that I really want the students to be learning,' she said.