Bluejacket Robotics Booster Club

We are the Cambridge-Isanti High School Robotics team and every year we compete in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotic Competition which is held worldwide. Our season kicks off the first week in January when the new competition for the season is released across the globe to more than 100 countries at the exact same time! We then have 6 weeks to build our robot from the ground up before the first week of competitions begin. Competitions then run for six weeks, and each team is able to choose two regional competitions to compete in, with the best of every event moving on to the First Robotics World Competition in Houston.

Our robotics team was founded in 2015 and we are proud to say that we won the Rookie All Star Award at the Northern Lights Regional Competition in Duluth that year! In the 10 years that we have been competing since, we punched our ticket to the World Competition 3 times, earned the World Spirit Award in 2018, we achieved both the Lake Superior Regional and the Spirit Award in 2020, we qualified for State Competitions in 2020, and we were awarded both the Gracious Professionalism and the Creativity Award in 2023. We are a smaller team than most and currently consist of only nine students with the goal of gaining more interest. Last year, we started up FTC (First Tech Challenge), which is the middle school robotics program to help with that mission, and we had so much interest that we had to divide it into 3 teams! With the addition of FTC comes added expenses.

While the FIRST competitions only run from January through April, we are a year-round program. We enjoy meeting new people and trying to get other young minds interested in STEM activities. We do this by bringing our robot out into the community to events such as Jubilee days during the Isanti Rodeo and Cambridge Customer Appreciation Night. 

Being a part of FlRST Robotics teaches a lot of valuable skills. These skills include time management, programming, leadership, team building, wiring, design, fabrication, and public speaking. Students will be able to carry these skills with them after they graduate, greatly benefiting our community. You may be wondering why we need sponsorships. It's simple: Being a part of FIRST robotics is a great opportunity for every student. Unfortunately, though, robot parts, competitions, and travel expenses all come with a financial obligation, As a team, we are always looking for different ways to fundraise. Last year, we raffled off a quarter beef, bagged groceries at Cub Foods, and bussed tables for a night at Pizza Ranch. This fall, we hosted a craft fair and community expo with food trucks and a raffle at the high school gym. Unfortunately, fundraising alone doesn't cover the cost of a season's expenses.

Here at CIHS, we try to keep the robotics program affordable so any student who wants to join, can join. If you choose to sponsor us, your money will go towards:

Registration costs at competitions (1st event $6,000 and 2nd event$3,000)

Robot parts ($8,000-$10,000 for a competitive robot)

Purchase of specialty tools and software programs

Hotel accommodations, food, and transportation to and from competitions for team members, coaches, and mentors

Lumber and supplies to build a practice field (with a new challenge every year comes new field elements needing to be built)

Aside from sponsor recognition, our hope is that we are able to form a partnership with our sponsors and work together over the next year. Do you participate in community events that you could use volunteers at? Do you need help with roadside clean-up? Can we help you with any community outreach programs? Can we bring our robot to your company picnic or corporate event to give demonstrations and give people a chance to drive it? I'm sure we can brainstorm and come up with different ways that we can work together. For us, we are always looking for volunteers and mentors but love when people come to visit so we can share our passion of building 'bots and can teach them more about what we do!

All donations are tax deductible as our booster club is a 501c3 organization (our EIN number is 81-2750358). If you have any questions about sponsorships, donations, or our program in general, please contact us a bluejacketroboticsboosterclub@gmail.com

If you would like to set up a day and time for members of our robotics team to come by in person to answer any questions, give a presentation, or do a demonstration of our robot, please don't hesitate to ask!

We are grateful every year for the continued support and sponsorships that keep our robotics program up and running. Without the generosity of our community, we would not have had all the opportunities and successes that we have had, so THANK YOU!

Please consider becoming a sponsor at any level. Everything is greatly appreciated and helps the team!