Milan Robotics Invited to World Championship Competition in Dalas

Tuesday, April 5, 2022 at 9:44 AM

Two fundraisers have been scheduled to help send the team to Dallas.

Pictured: Wyatt Phelps, Tristan Jutzi, Gaige Colen, Jesse Hampton, and Caleb Dixon. Photo provided.

(Milan, Ind.) - Five students from Milan Middle School have been invited to compete in the largest robotics competition in the world.

Wyatt Phelps, Tristan Jutzi, Gaige Colen, Jesse Hampton, and Caleb Dixon will represent Milan at the 2022 VEX Robotics World Championship in May at the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center in Dallas, Texas.

Known as The Chimichangas, Milan's robotics team is made up of seventh and eighth grade students who are engineers, creators, programmers, problem solvers, and robotic enthusiasts.

The Chimichangas qualified for the State Competition last month in Indianapolis after picking up their first team win at the Southeast Indiana Robotics League.

Now, the focus shifts to the world competition. However, the team needs financial support in order to make their way to Dallas. Two fundraisers have been scheduled this month:

Burg Nutrition on April 16
Combs Pizza on April 27 from 3:30- 8:30pm

Coach Brandy Hicks tells Eagle Country 99.3 all donations in excess of what is needed for travel expenses will be donated to the Robotics Club account to make necessary improvements to bots for next year.

Donations can be made by contacting Milan Middle School or Coach Hicks at Brandy.Hicks@Milan.k12.in.us.

*Our story reminds me of the Milan1954 Miracle," said Coach Brandy Hicks. "The opportunity to attend state was amazing, but while there we realized that our robot was small as was our school. We were competing with large schools with large robots. We were definitely out of our depth competing at such an advanced level, but in the end our small robot was the little robot that could. Our autonomous programming and driving skills combined earned our team a prestigious spot in the World's Competition."