We are The Pinions (FTC Team #23414), an award-winning FIRST® Tech Challenge (FTC) robotics team from the Kansas City northland. Our community-based team of 9 students—six girls and three boys, ages 13–17—is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of STEM education through competitive robotics, community outreach, and student-led innovation.

Now in our third FTC season, The Pinions have quickly built a track record of excellence. As rookies, we earned the 1st Place Think Award at our league tournament, qualified for the Missouri State Championship, and achieved the highest average End Game score in the entire state. For that End Game challenge, our students designed and built a drone launcher that reliably deployed a paper airplane to nearly the same spot every match—a testament to their precision engineering.

In our second season, we pushed the limits learning how to design and code a robot that could climb off the ground. We were one of the few teams in the Kansas City area to try this highly challenging and technical maneuver. Each year we strive to go further than we have before.

Our journey began in FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL), where most of our members competed together and reached the FLL World Championships in Houston, TX. That spirit of collaboration and curiosity drives everything we do now as an FTC team.