“From small beginnings come great things.”
That certainly was the case 22 years ago at a northwest Detroit landmark, when a small group of students and coaches converted a closet next to a physics classroom into a workspace.
Applying hard work, determination and creativity, the students and coaches within those cramped quarters launched “Robocubs,” the award-winning robotics team at the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy (8400 Cambridge off Seven Mile Road), whose school history in Detroit dates to 1877.
“We were pretty scrappy in the beginning,” recalls Rich Wong, one of three founding coaches of the robotics team at U-D Jesuit, along with Peter Guenther and the late Tim Murphy. “I don’t think any of us could have envisioned that we would be competing at this level today. But it’s really not about winning competitions, or how our robot performs. The important thing is the journey and the lessons learned through the program.”
The journey recently sent the U-D Jesuit robotics team, along with robotics teams representing two other high schools in Detroit — Cristo Rey and The School at Marygrove — to Houston from April 29-May 2 for the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Championship, often called the World Championship of Robotics. This year, more than 600 teams from around the world are participating in the FIRST Robotics Competition.
FIRST Robotics celebrates STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education while promoting “coopertition” and “gracious professionalism.”
The 2026 FIRST Robotics Competition season kicked off in January, when participating teams received a kit with parts to design, program and build industrial-size robots that competed in action-packed games during FIRST Robotics events throughout the year. The three Detroit teams qualified for the FIRST Championship after posting strong performances at the FIRST in Michigan State Championship held in Saginaw from April 16-18.
“Representing Detroit in Houston at the FIRST Championship honestly means the world to me,” said Aiden Jackson, a senior at U-D Jesuit, who serves as vice president of business for the school’s robotics team (known as Team 1701 in competition circles). Since 2016, the team has operated from a complete robotics lab located within the science and engineering wing of the U-D Jesuit campus.
Jackson continued: “Being a part of a FIRST Robotics team helped save my life, and being able to do so while bringing the city of Detroit to the forefront is amazing. It shows to the world that the beautiful city of Detroit is much more capable than they think, especially seeing as we as a team are much smaller than other more historically successful teams.”
Like Jackson, Merely Cabanas-Hernandez, a senior at Cristo Rey High School, also looked forward to representing her school and city in Houston. Cristo Rey’s robotics team qualified for the FIRST Championship at the state championship event by winning the FIRST Impact Award, which honors teams that demonstrate a sustained, measurable impact on their schools and local communities. And Cabanas-Hernadez was tasked with presenting the detailed documentation, including an extensive essay up to 10,000 characters, 14 executive summaries and other visual information that is required to be considered for the prestigious honor.
“For the Impact Award you really have to submit all of the information before the season starts,” Cabanas-Hernandez said April 25, speaking from a community space within the University of Detroit Mercy’s Engineering Building in northwest Detroit, which Cristo Rey (located at 5679 W. Vernor in southwest Detroit) has made available to other Detroit robotics teams through a partnership with UDM. “We represent ourselves as a predominantly Hispanic team, so in our reporting we explained how as a team we like to go out to cultural events and community events with our robots to ensure that kids that look like us and see us know that there is a lot of space for them in the STEM landscape.”
When Cabanas-Hernandez described the hard work and “sleepless nights” that went into even being considered for the FIRST Impact Award, a smile could be seen on the face of Cristo Rey’s robotics coach Ann McGowan, who made it clear that the 20 members on her team, known in competitions as Kinematic Wolves FRC 5577, represent something greater than themselves and their proud southwest Detroit neighborhood.
“We have a phrase on our shirts, on our logos, everything, that says: ‘Detroit Strong’ and we embrace that,” said McGowan, who coaches and teaches at a school where many of the students learn further lessons about the value of teamwork through a corporate work-study program that helps families pay a portion of the school’s tuition. “We believe in Detroit and we believe Detroit is a hub of growth — the hub of a community that is recognized for so many things that really aren’t true. And to have these kids go up on that stage and say: ‘No, we’re Detroit, not what you hear.’ That to me is huge as a coach to know that I have worked with them and helped to give them this confidence to say to the world: ‘Look at us, we’re Detroit and look at the great things that we’re doing in our city.’ ”
About a mile west from where the Cristo Rey team was assembled on the UDM campus, students, mentors and coaches at another high school were also preparing to head to Houston, making final repairs and modifications to their robot. And although the time was quickly approaching to begin preliminary steps to have the team’s robot safely transported from Detroit to Houston, there was no sense of panic within the robotics lab at The School at Marygrove.
“I like problem solving,” stated Aslan Fleming, an 11th grader on the robotics team (Team 8280 – K9.0 Robotics), who pulled himself off the floor and away from the team’s robot, briefly, to talk. “Today, we are kind of recovering from our state championship, after winning our field, and we’re trying to do some robot improvements. We had a member from another team come by and give us some constructive criticism on how we can make our robot better. So we’re just trying to refine our robot and make sure it’s ready for a fight at Worlds.”
Fleming’s journey in robotics also mirrors the continued growing STEM education movement in Detroit, which has more FIRST Robotics high school teams than any metropolitan area in the country. Fleming’s first robotics experience came in the third grade as a student at the Foreign Language Immersion & Cultural Studies School (FLICS), which is part of the Detroit Public Schools Community District. Then, as an eighth grader at FLICS, Fleming joined the middle school robotics team, which became the first public middle school team in Detroit to compete in the International FIRST Championship, also held in Houston.
And while Fleming was preparing for a second trip to Houston for an international robotics competition on a different team, he also was preparing to make the trek with a very familiar person—Leon Pryor Jr., who has been Fleming’s robotics coach in middle school and high school. Five years ago, Pryor, who earned a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan in 1997, felt that he did not have enough of a robotics background to be the lead coach at the high school level, where the teams build much larger robots than those seen in middle school competitions. But as Pryor spoke just a few days before his team would become the first DPSCD high school to make an appearance at the FIRST Championship in 18 years, Pryor said that he was glad he accepted the challenge and grateful for all of the people who have helped him along the way, especially the young people he has coached.
“I just feel tremendous pride right now because you hear so many bad things about Detroit kids like they’re tearing up downtown. At the same time, I have kids who are 3D printing and programming robots and it’s not just our kids because there are kids all over Detroit doing robotics,” said Pryor, who works often with fellow Detroit robotics coaches McGowan and Wong through their connection to Motor City Alliance, a nonprofit that provides resources and support, including workshops, for school robotics teams throughout Detroit.
Pryor continued: “But for our kids at Marygrove, I’m grateful because they decided that they would be great. They said we’re setting our dreams and our hopes for something that is difficult but they knew they could achieve it. They gave up their spring break, they gave up their winter break and they’re not hanging out late at night. Even among themselves, they’re talking about the robot and scouting other teams. The amount of energy and focus they have shown is considerable and really beyond their years.
“And I’m so proud of them.”
Up for the challenge: Three Detroit robotics teams earn an opportunity to match minds with the world’s best
The teams: Team 1701 (The “Robocubs”) representing University of Detroit Jesuit High School & Academy; Kinematic Wolves FRC 5577 representing Cristo Rey High School; and Team 8280 – K9.0 Robotics representing The School at Marygrove.
Recent competition: FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Championship, often called the World Championship of Robotics, in Houston (April 29-May 2 at the George R. Brown Convention Center).
The crews: Cristo Rey student team members — Marely Cabanas-Hernandez, Melanie Gallardo, Adrian Gonzalez, Victoria Gonzalez, Xiomara Ortega, Alejandro Ramirez, Katia Claro, Gael Ramirez, Dulce Alonzo-Chilel, Ruben Calzada Venegas, Geraldine Carillo-Torres, Max Gomez, Julian Gonzalez, Monica Gonzalez, Michelle Irineo-Lezama, Joel Luca, Gabriella Ramirez, Alexis Alonzo-Chilel, Jean Carlo Bazan, Luis Velazquez-Alberto. The School at Marygrove robotics student team members — Tahara Drew, Emily (Finn) Nahabedian, Anecia Shanks, Leon Pryor III, Shyann Miller, Marley Johnson, Brooklynn Jacobs, Lilyann Robinson, Angelo Barton, Aslan Fleming, Akenna Nikundiwe, Aaron Drakeford, Bryce Pickett. University of Detroit Jesuit student team members — Harrison Ahmad, Ziggy Albrecht, Christopher Antakli, Darryl Bacon, Michael Berry, Vincent Brewer, Keviontae Broom, Joe Burke, Eoin Crotty, Juan Pablo (JP) Espinoza, Seth Gaiter, Nicolas Granados, Julian Grecki, Nolan Green, Eagan Greene, Mason Hart, Christopher HooSang, Andrew Hutson, Aiden Jackson, Aiden, Mathias Khilji, Ty Lichwalla, Kaito Lovin, Samuel (Sam) Lucas, John (Jack) Lucas, Gavino Marini, Garrick Maristela, Matthew McLoughlin, Chip McLoughlin, Keenan McNeil, Gabriel Minor, Ra’Mari Moore, Aden Neill, Julian Pagani, Dean Palmer, Alexander (AJ) Richardson, Michael Rothmeier, Finn Russell, Owne Sawicke, Dillon Seymour, Jasper Soileau, Lucas Stephan, Isaiah Thebault, Donovan Young, Levi Yount
Scott Talley is a native Detroiter, a proud product of Detroit Public Schools and a lifelong lover of Detroit culture in its diverse forms. In his second tour with the Free Press, which he grew up reading as a child, he is excited and humbled to cover the city’s neighborhoods and the many interesting people who define its various communities. Contact him at stalley@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @STalleyfreep. Read more of Scott’s stories at www.freep.com/mosaic/detroit-is/. Please help us grow great community-focused journalism by becoming a subscriber.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 3 Detroit robotics teams earned a trip to Houston to take on the world
Reporting by Scott Talley, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
