On Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018, the Charyl Stockwell Preparatory Academy Middle School Miners and High School Gems FIRST Robotics teams demonstrated their robots in the Rotunda of the Michigan State Capitol Building in Lansing. The teams were there at the invitation of the Michigan Association of Public School Academies (MAPSA) for the occasion of National School Choice Week.
During their formal robotics demonstration, State Rep. Lana Theis made a resolution and presented the robotics teams with a decree signed by Gov. Rick Snyder, Lt. Governor Brian Calley, State Rep. Hank Vapel, State Sen. Joe Hune, and herself. The decree honors all the accomplishments of the two CSPA Robotics teams.
This season, the CSPA Middle School Miners won their first two events and went on to compete in the State Championship for the third time in four years. The team has qualified to attend the North Super Regional competition in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in March, where they will be among the top teams representing Michigan.
During the 2017 season, the CSPA High School Gems placed 53rd out of 461 teams in the state and qualified to compete in the World Championships in St. Louis, Missouri last April. This was the fourth consecutive year that the team qualified to compete in the World Championship; they were the only team representing Livingston County. The Gems are looking forward to an exciting 2018 season.
