Marion Die & Fixture Sponsors the MCHomes Mechanics Robotics Team

Marion Die & Fixture (MDF) was proud to sponsor the MCHomes Homeschool CO-OP Robotics Team — the MCHomes Mechanics — in their inaugural season of competition! This year marked the first time that the MCHomes Homeschool CO-OP offered a robotics team, creating new opportunities for local homeschool students to explore the worlds of design, manufacturing, marketing, and technology. The team entered the Kansas BEST Robotics Competition, a program that challenges students to apply real-world STEM skills in a fast-paced, hands-on environment.

BEST — which stands for Boosting Engineering, Science, and Technology — is a unique competition that simulates a business-style engineering challenge. Teams can compete across several tiers, with the highest being the BEST Award, where students act as a “company” responsible for designing, marketing, presenting, and “selling” their robot in addition to performing on the field.

As a rookie team, the MCHomes Mechanics chose to focus their efforts on building a functional and competitive robot rather than competing for the full BEST Award. Over the course of eight weeks, they worked hard to engineer, program, build their robot, prepare an engineering notebook, and practice driving a strategy. All done with plenty of pizza and soda to fuel the group of teenagers through the sessions.

On November 1st, the tournament took place at Charles Koch Arena, where 17 teams from across Kansas competed through 26 seeding rounds, semifinals, and four final rounds. To everyone’s excitement, the MCHomes Mechanics’ robot climbed the rankings and ultimately finished 3rd in the Performance category, an incredible achievement for a first-year team whose motto throughout the season was simply, “Let’s not finish last.”

Their success didn’t stop there, the top three teams from the BEST Award category and two performance teams were invited to move on to regionals, which will be held December 6–7 at Friends University Arena in Wichita. Although they began the season with no expectations of advancing, the Mechanics’ hard work, teamwork, and determination earned them a place among Kansas’ best.

The sights and sounds of the competition were electric, from the pounding of 50-gallon drums to teams playing instruments and cheering not only for themselves but also for their competitors. It was a celebration of innovation, creativity, and community spirit.

At MDF, we are thrilled to play a part in supporting and encouraging the next generation of engineers, designers, and innovators. Congratulations to the MCHomes Mechanics on their 3rd Place Performance Finish and best of luck at regionals!

Congratulations MCHomes Mechanics!