USCHS Robotics teams earn awards, state berth

ROGO Rose captured the Inspire Award, the event’s highest honor, qualifying the team to compete at the state championship March 14-15, 2026, near Allentown. The Inspire Award recognizes excellence across all aspects of the FIRST Tech Challenge program, including robot performance, outreach and team organization.

ROGO Rose will be joined at the state competition by fellow USC Robotics team TeraBridges, which previously qualified at the Lancaster Area Qualifier in December 2025.

In total, five Upper St. Clair High School teams – TeraBridges, Botsburgh, USC Dynamics, ROGO Lotus and ROGO Rose – competed at the Seneca Valley and Raiders Qualifiers, held Jan. 10-11 at Seneca Valley Senior High School.

At the Seneca Valley Qualifier on Saturday, Botsburgh earned the Connect Award for its community outreach efforts, while ROGO Lotus received the Sustain Award, which recognizes long-term team planning and sustainability.

During Sunday’s Raiders Qualifier, all three competing USC teams – ROGO Rose, TeraBridges and USC Dynamics – earned awards. In addition to ROGO Rose’s first-place Inspire Award, TeraBridges received the second-place Inspire Award. For the playoff matches, TeraBridges selected ROGO Rose as its alliance partner. TeraBridges finished as Finalist Alliance Captain, with ROGO Rose earning Finalist Alliance Partner honors. USC Dynamics received the Reach Award for its efforts to recruit and engage new team members.

The teams are now preparing to host two upcoming FTC qualifiers –  the Southwestern Pennsylvania and Panther Power Qualifiers – scheduled for Feb. 21–22 at Boyce Middle School. Hosted by USC Robotics, each day will feature more than 30 teams from across Pennsylvania competing in robotics matches and participating in STEM learning activities.

The USC Robotics Club offers programming for students in kindergarten through grade 12, providing hands-on experiences in engineering, programming, CAD design, teamwork, leadership and problem-solving. Students participate in FIRST LEGO League (Explore and Challenge), FIRST Tech Challenge, community outreach projects and industry visits that connect classroom learning to real-world STEM applications.

FIRST Tech Challenge is an international program for students in grades 7-12 who design, build and program robots to complete themed tasks. The program emphasizes problem-solving, engineering, teamwork, communication and community impact. Teams advance through local qualifiers to the state championship and potentially the FIRST World Championship.

This season’s game, DECODE, challenges teams to collect and sort artifacts on the field. Success requires strategic planning, technical innovation and consistent driving. Judges also evaluate teams on outreach, communication skills and how well they demonstrate the FIRST Core Values.