Cook County robotics team heads to regional competition

Chuck Olsen | February 24, 2025

Cook County High School’s robotics team, called IceStorm, is putting the finishing touches on a robot that will compete in the FIRST Robotics Competition Duluth Regionals, taking place Feb. 26 – March 1, 2025 at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center (DECC).

Head Coach Sarah Anderson works with adult mentors and students to help them learn everything from using hand tools to solving more complex technology challenges.

“We have one senior and mostly freshmen and sophomores, so we’re a very young team with a lot to learn,” said Anderson. “Problem solvers, we’re a group of problem solvers.”

FIRST Robotics Competition bills itself as “the world’s largest celebration of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) for students.”

This year’s competition is called REEFSCAPE. Robots will work to restore a coral reef by removing algae, represented by green rubber balls, and seed new coral represented by large PVC pipe.

WTIP’s Chuck Olsen visited the robotics team at Cook County High School and spoke with the head coach, an adult mentor, and members of the team.