Salisbury Robotics Red—one of the teams that competed from Salisbury Composite High—was captain of the winning alliance and won the Control Award at the 2025 FIRST Tech Challenge Northern Alberta Tournament on February 8.

Sherwood Park, AB. — Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS) students have a final chance to charge into provincials with the FIRST Tech Challenge Northern Alberta Qualifier, a robotics competition being hosted at Bev Facey Community High.

Nineteen school and community teams from northern Alberta will attend the event with students from grades 7-12. EIPS schools with teams competing include Bev Facey Community High and Salisbury Composite High. At the competition, teams will design, build, program and operate a robot—complete with sensors, motors, gears and software—to compete in an alliance format against each other.

Before the qualifier, Salisbury Composite hosted the FIRST Tech Challenge Northern Alberta Tournament on February 8. Fort Saskatchewan High’s Sting Robotics took home the Judges’ Choice Award, and the team Salisbury Robotics Red was captain of the winning alliance for the competition and won the Control Award. “It was such a fun experience,” says Blake Ramage, a Grade 12 student at Salisbury Composite. “And we even broke the provincial record twice! Winning the Control Award was unexpected, as I had spent so many weeks working on autonomous that it didn’t even register to me that it would be impressive to the judges. We look forward to provincials and are hopeful for worlds.”

Five teams from the tournament have advanced to the Alberta Championship, including Salisbury Robotics Red from EIPS. At the qualifier, more teams will have the chance to secure a spot at the provincial competition. From the Alberta Championship, three teams will advance to the international competition held in Houston, Texas.

Similar to the tournament, each team at the qualifier will work with their robot in an alliance with another team to play a game called INTO THE DEEP. The goal: to score more points than the opponent teams. Robots score points when moving game pieces called samples and specimens onto predetermined locations. During the first 30 seconds, robots are operated in an autonomous period using pre-programmed instructions. It then moves to a two-minute remote-control period. Then, in the last 30 seconds, robots can still earn points through normal means—however, bonus points are introduced for several other actions.

Event Details:
Date:           March 1, 2025
Time:           8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Location:     Bev Facey Community High
                     99 Colwill Blvd., Sherwood Park

Representatives of the media are welcome to attend the FIRST Tech Challenge Northern Alberta Qualifier. Congratulations to all EIPS teams that have competed in the FIRST Tech Challenge and good luck for future competitions!

Elk Island Public Schools is one of Alberta’s largest school divisions, serving approximately 17,950 students in 42 schools. We are proud to be an integral part of our communities, including Sherwood Park, Fort Saskatchewan, Vegreville, Strathcona and Lamont counties, and the western portion of the County of Minburn.

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For more information, media can contact:
Laura McNabb, Director, Communication Services, EIPS 780-417-8204 cell 780-405-4902