Neighborhood Notes
ALMADEN>>Leland High School’s Quixilver 604 is among 600 robotics teams set to compete in the FIRST World Championship in Houston April 16-19.
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In the annual FIRST Robotics Competition, high school teams design, build and program robots to compete in a themed game that changes each year. Quixilver spent eight weeks designing, building and programming their 115-lb robot to compete in this year’s “Reefscape.”
Competing against 35 teams from California, Nevada and the Netherlands at the Pinnacles Regional in Hollister, the Leland team was 15-2-0 in official play and went undefeated through the playoffs. Matches consist of an autonomous period when robots operate without driver input and a teleoperated period when human drivers control the robots.
Quixilver also won the Innovation in Control Award for its control system.
More than 3,700 high school teams from 30 countries participated in the 34th FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition.
The Leland team was started 25 years ago by Helen Arrington, who is still Quixilver’s head mentor. Arrington was recently named the 2025 secondary teacher of the year for the San Jose Unified School District. She was also one of 15 educators around the world recognized by FIRST’s 2024 Inspire the Future initiative.
ROSE GARDEN>>Pet owners can bring their four-legged friends to Santana Row on April 5 for a photo with the Easter Bunny. All proceeds will benefit Humane Society Silicon Valley.
Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. at Park Valencia in front of Maggiano’s. For more information, call 408-551-4611 or visit https://bit.ly/41zXnK2.
