San Jose, CA – On the heels of receiving top regional honors, the Bellarmine College Preparatory FIRST Robotics Team 254, “The Cheesy Poofs,” claimed victory in the World Championships of Robotics. The competition was held April 27-30 at the Edward Jones Dome of the America's Center in St. Louis, Missouri, with 25 Bellarmine students attending the tournament.

Having recently taken top honors at regional competitions in San Diego and Silicon Valley, Team 254 joined Team 111 ("Wild Stang" of Schaumburg, IL) and Team 973 ("Greybots" of Atascadero, CA) as world champions after a 9-1 record in qualification matches and wins in both the Galileo and Einstein divisions of the tournament.

The St. Louis championship marks the first time that Bellarmine’s Team 254 has won the World Championships of FIRST. “I am so proud of all the kids for the hard work they have put in to achieve this result,” said faculty moderator, Rob Janke. “This was the missing piece to our program and all that have ever been a part of this team are happy and excited for finally achieving the ultimate goal.” This win, and receiving the World Industrial Design Award, brings the team’s award total to 73 during its 11 year history. The victory also distinguishes Bellarmine’s Team 254, consisting of 83 students, as one of the world's most overall successful robotics programs, as it has now claimed every major award and holds more awards than any other FIRST team. Bellarmine’s Robotics Team 254 is moderated by faculty members Rob Janke and Jim Urhausen.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) was founded in 1989 to inspire young people's interest and participation in science and technology. The not-for-profit public charity designs accessible, innovative programs that motivate young people to pursue education and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math, while building self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills.

[Article also posted on bcp.org]

 Team 254 proudly introduces our promotional robot, Shockwave. Shockwave is a T-Shirt cannon capable at shooting T-Shirts at promotional events.  

For more information on our T-Shirt Cannon, view the following pages:

About the T-Shirt Cannon

Build Process

Technical Specifications

Videos

Photos

At Your Event

Over the past thirteen years, Team 254, "The Cheesy Poofs," has grown from one of the smallest programs in the country, at a struggling high school, to a large, multifaceted organization. In 1998, NASA engineers Bob Holmes and Steve Kyramarios joined Jason Morella, then an English teacher and now with the Robotics Education and Competition Foundation, in exciting students about robotics. With the downsizing of Broadway High School, the program was given a new home at Bellarmine College Preparatory in the fall of 2000. Since then, the team has won the coveted FIRST Chairman's Award, the FIRST Championship, the VEX Championship Excellence Award and numerous tournaments.

Much more important than any competitive successes or awards, the students of Team 254 have grown academically, intellectually, and socially. Team 254 members gain a better understanding, a greater respect, and a more profound appreciation of the benefits of a good education. Much like NASA and Bellarmine College Preparatory, FIRST and VEX are organizations which, in a profound way, inspire and motivate our students to avidly pursue their academic, career, and personal goals.

FIRST Website
More About FIRST

FIRST, which stands for "For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology," is a nonprofit organization founded by Dean Kamen in 1989. The FIRST Robotics Competition combines gracious professionalism with technology. The result is an environment that fosters a deeper appreciation for science and technology. Though the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is targeted for high school students, professional mentors as well as college students can join in and help a team succeed. In addition to the FRC, FIRST sponsors the FIRST Tech Challenge, designed for high school teams that do not have the resources to participate in the FIRST Robotics Competition. For younger students, FIRST has developed the FIRST Lego League. For more information about FIRST, check out How FIRST Works.

The game for this year's FIRST competition is Logomotion.  For more information on the current game or past games, see the Games Page.

The Cheesy Poofs are a partnership between NASA Ames Research Center and Bellarmine College Preparatory. The Cheesy Poofs have participated in FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics competitions since 1999 and the VEX robotics challenge since 2007. Any motivated or interested student from Bellarmine College Preparatory is eligible to participate on Team 254. The primary team members include:

• Students from Bellarmine College Preparatory
• Engineers and college students from NASA Ames Research Center
• Teachers from Bellarmine College Preparatory
• Alumni of Teams 254, 968, 100, 115, and 60

The primary goals of the NASA ARC Robotics Team are to:

• Prepare students for leadership roles within their team and community
• Promote life skills such as teamwork, responsibility, academic advancement, business management, time management, personal accountability, and community involvement
• Introduce students to positive role models
• Promote the ideals of FIRST, VEX, and Bellarmine College Preparatory
• Support and mentor other San Jose area schools & students to participate in FIRST, VEX, and other robotics programs.