Gearheads make district history scoring silver medals at international competition

GROSSE POINTES — The Gearheads, a Unified FIRST Robotics team consisting of students from Grosse Pointe North and South high schools, made district history when they earned second place at the FIRST Robotics Challenge World Championship at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston in late April.

The team members, joined by parents and mentors, collected their medals and saw their trophies May 2 in their workshop at North.

“It was difficult,” said the team’s faculty adviser, North math teacher Jack Pierick. “It was challenging. But we made a lot of friends along the way. … This is Gearheads history, everybody.”

The Gearheads earned their silver medal after their alliance took second place on the prestigious Einstein field, where their alliance was defeated in the World Championship finals. They were the only team from Michigan — out of about 82 total — to make it past their field to the finals.

There were more than 600 teams from all over the world, including Australia, Israel, China, Japan and Turkey. An estimated 50,000 people were on hand for the competition, including parents.

“It was very intense,” said team captain Drew Behringer, of Grosse Pointe Woods, a senior at North. “You’re learning a lot and seeing how other teams operate. … It’s super exciting, too. It’s something I’m going to remember for the rest of my life.”

North sophomore Gavin Perry, of Harper Woods, is already looking forward to competing again next year.

“You get to learn from the best teams in the world,” Perry said of being at the competition. “It’s a ton of fun. I was just excited for every match I got to play. … We’re going to be so much better next year from what we learned.”

It was a 25-hour bus ride home from Houston, but it was an exhilarating trip.

“We got on the bus tired and happy,” Behringer said of the drive back to Michigan after three days of competition. “It was a fun ride home. We arrived home to thunderous applause from parents. We felt the support from the district.”

Although the Gearheads have adult mentors — some of whom are Gearheads alumni who’ve returned to work with a new generation of students — it’s the students who do all the work and research that goes into building and operating the robots, including design and fabrication. Even sourcing materials for their creations is something they do themselves. The process involves science, math, engineering and ingenuity.

Steve Hayes, of Grosse Pointe Woods, one of the adult mentors, said the students in the Gearheads “are overachievers.”

And indeed, despite taking academically rigorous Advanced Placement classes in high school, the students said they spend about 18 hours per week in the workshop during the robotics season — which includes nine hours every Saturday.

“These kids do it all,” Hayes said — referring not only to robot creation, but also to their packed schedules. “Many of these kids are in band and orchestra. Many of these kids are in sports.”

At least one this year is an Eagle Scout, Hayes added.

This year’s team includes three seniors graduating in June — two from North and one from South — all of whom are studying STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — subjects in college, Hayes said.

Behringer, who plans to major in mechanical engineering, said he feels he’ll have a head-start on some of his peers because of the skills he’s acquired in areas like fabrication and design.

Perry, who programmed the robot and served as the driver this year, said this was a better educational experience than anything he could have gotten in a classroom. Being a Gearhead hasn’t just improved his programming skills, though.

Perry said he’s developed “a lot of interpersonal skills I would have never gotten” otherwise.

“There’s also using the math,” said team member Allan Cooney Jr., from Harper Woods, a junior at North. He said being on the Gearheads enables them to use the math they’ve learned in the classroom.

Anyone can join the Gearheads.

“The only requirement is you want to learn,” Hayes said.

Students and mentors hope to see more students join in the future. With less than 30 members, the Gearheads were one of the smaller high school robotics teams at the international competition, making their silver medals that much more remarkable.

The team does more than create and troubleshoot. The team is also active in the community, bringing its robots to organizations like Kids on the Go, mentoring teams at other schools, fundraising and taking part in events like the Kercheval After 6 street fairs in Grosse Pointe Park.

“I couldn’t be prouder, and I really look forward to seeing where you go in your future … and what you’re going to do with these lessons you’ve learned and these experiences you’ve had,” Pierick told the team.

The Gearheads were recognized by Grosse Pointe Public School System officials during a Board of Education meeting May 6 at Brownell Middle School in Grosse Pointe Farms.

Superintendent Andrea Tuttle said that the team members have forged lifelong friendships as well as applied classroom learning in real-world ways.

“That is what extracurriculars do for students,” Tuttle said.