While many students celebrated the lack of classes over winter break, a group of Esquimalt High students instead started fervently building a robot.

Already dedicated to the craft of robotics, the Atom Smashers club members dedicated time to brainstorming,

B次元官网网址淭he kids have really been buckling down and getting their stuff together,B次元官网网址� mentor and coach Tina OB次元官网网址橩eeffe said.

The Esquimalt Atom Smashers includes two competition streams B次元官网网址� FIRST Robotics Challenge (FRC) and FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) where the school has two teams competing.

B次元官网网址淭his year we have over 30 members on the team, with 15 on FTC and everyone participating in FRC in March,B次元官网网址� OB次元官网网址橩eeffe said.

In both cases, high school students start with a kit, then design, program and build an industrial-sized robot to play a game, competing on a themed field. Teams also create an identity, raise funds and advance appreciation for science, technology and math in the community B次元官网网址� aligning with the competition creator, international youth organization, FIRST (For Inspiration, Recognition of Science and Technology).

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 not just building a robot, itB次元官网网址檚 about understanding the whole concept of B次元官网网址� brainstorm through design, and building and trying and rebuilding to get to where they need to be,B次元官网网址� OB次元官网网址橩eeffe said. B次元官网网址淭he biggest thing for us is itB次元官网网址檚 so much more than robots for the kids.B次元官网网址�

ItB次元官网网址檚 about being part of a team, time management, organization, project development, running a business with a $50,000 budget for two teams plus raising that money through both sponsorship and fundraisers in the community.

Students enrolled can earn credits for robotics in grades 9 through 12.

B次元官网网址淭he amount of hours these kids put in itB次元官网网址檚 worth a class. And the stuff they do meets all the curriculum guidelines as well so it makes sense,B次元官网网址� OB次元官网网址橩eeffe said.

FTC work started in September with brainstorming, prototyping and building on this yearB次元官网网址檚 Into the Deep theme.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e floating through in both of them (FTC and FRC) with an underwater theme,B次元官网网址� OB次元官网网址橩eeffe said, not willing to give away specifics.

St. Margaret's School in Saanich hosts both the FTC qualifier on Jan. 25 and provincial championships Feb. 22 and 23.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檇 love it if people come and cheer us on,B次元官网网址� OB次元官网网址橩eeffe said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 great to share with people, little kids love seeing robots adults love seeing robots.B次元官网网址�

The FTC competition includes teams from Esquimalt High, Spectrum Community School, Reynolds Secondary School, Mount Douglas Secondary School, St. Margarets School and community team FIX-IT. Seven teams advance to provincials.

The FRC competition kicked off Jan. 4 with more than 20 team members at the high school putting in a full Saturday starting to prototype ideas for the build that is coming this week. About 20 kids spent the weekend prototyping different designs crafted out of wood pieces. The game this year includes hanging, moving pvc pipe and moving a ball, all things the team trialed with their wood proxies. The team has seven weeks to complete the task of designing, building and testing a robot that meets the criteria set out for this year's game.

The Atom Smashers enters its seventh year of FRC culminating with an international competition in Vancouver at the Pacific Coliseum from Feb. 26 to March 1. Spectrum is also competing.

Both events need volunteers, anyone interested can connect with Christine Nicholls by emailing .

Learn more about the Esquimalt teams online at .