In 1999, Mr. Jason Morrella, the advisor for Team #254 Cheesy-Poofs, and Mr. Tom Dyson from NASA Ames Research Center, along with two students from Broadway High School, came to McKinley High School. They shared and demonstrated their robot, which had won the Silicon Valley Regional Robotics Competition. This was our first glimpse into the exciting world of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology).
Mr. Art Kimura’s influence made this Cheesy-Poofs visitation possible. He was a former McKinley High School science teacher and a candidate for the first "Teacher in Space" program. He currently works with the Hawaii Space Grant Consortium encouraging young students to pursue careers in science, space, and technology.
To make a long story short, Mr. Kimura dined with Mr. Mark Leon, the NASA Ames Director of Education, at a neighbor island space-related conference. Mr. Leon informed Mr. Kimura that NASA was introducing the FIRST program to Hawaii beginning with the sponsorship of one team - Waialua High School Team #359. Mr. Kimura inquired if there was funding for an additional school. With a little persuasion, Mr. Leon approved another grant for Hawaii's public school system. Unaware of Mr. Kimura's actions, McKinley became Team #368. Mr. Leon then flew in members of Team #254, Cheesy-Poofs, to visit Waialua and McKinley High Schools.
At the time, McKinley Electric Vehicle Team had just competed in their fourth Electron Marathon. The Electron Marathon was an electric vehicle competition where students committed themselves to a problem-solving activity. Students built and raced a car of their own design. In addition to building this vehicle, students were required to provide written documentation, give an oral presentation, and participate in an hour-long vehicle endurance race. Under the direction of electronics instructor Milton Lau, McKinley successfully won three out of four state Electron Marathon competitions. After the Cheesy-Poofs' presentation, however, McKinley decided that they would end their participation in the Electron Marathon.
Upon retiring from the competition, McKinley donated their winning electric vehicle to Hawaiian Electric Company, the major sponsor of the Electron Marathon, with the intent that the vehicle be used as an engineering platform for neophyte schools. The experience gained by the members of the McKinley team encouraged their interest in the field of engineering as many continued their post secondary education at MIT, Carnegie Mellon, and UCLA.
It was the end of an era, but the beginning of a new challenge. FIRST could not have come at a better time for McKinley High School. This new engineering project had unlimited potential. McKinley accepted this challenge whole-heartedly with the traditional McKinley determination, commitment and Tiger Pride.
However, as the years went on, FIRST was not enough. Outside of the FIRST season, there is a large gap in the year with no challenges to overcome. The students needed more opportunities to get hands-on experience in robotics with more activities to exercise and strengthen their minds.
In the summer of 2006, McKinley decided to create their own game using VEX starter kits as the robotics platform. VEX robotics kits can be used to build problem-solving robots that are much smaller and simpler than the complicated robots of FIRST. The competition can be just as intense and involves our students individually making their own decisions with minimal mentor guidance. With the summer over, another game was devised in the Fall of 2006 for new recruits.
In the Fall of 2007, VEX began its meteoric rise in Hawaii with the Hawaii FRC Rookie VEX Tournament. With the inaugural Hawaii FIRST Robotics Competition just a few months away, McKinley helped to spread VEX to the new FRC teams as a way to prepare them for the FIRST season. The company which produced the VEX product line came out with their own game and we were one of the first locations to debut the game. From this one competition, VEX has exploded locally, and on the outer islands, and continues to grow.
McKinley has also contributed to the growth of robotics programs in Hawaii by holding various demonstrations in the school and community, such as the ones for our annual Mini Math Competition, our McKinley Tiger Showcase Night, at the Children’s Discovery Center, for the Board of the National Science Foundation, for the Board of PREL (Pacific Resources for Education and Learning), and at the State Capitol among many others.
McKinley strives to not only bring robotics to our students, but also to those in the greater community by continuing to volunteer and encouraging others to volunteer as well. As long as the Tiger Spirit remains alive in the heart of this school, McKinley will hopefully continue to make an impression for years to come.