Hello, we’re FIRST Robotics Competition Team 1432. We operate out of Franklin High School in Portland, Oregon, and we have team members from both Franklin and Cleveland high schools. As of the 2009 season, we’ve been in operation as a team for six years, and are comprised of 25 members, from freshmen to seniors. We currently meet every week on Mondays and Thursdays.

We’re all about opportunity. In our team, students take initiative and learn the skills they need and want — no strings attached. Franklin High School’s full wood and metal shops make every aspect of building a robot available to students — and most members have used them. We also have the latest and greatest programming tools from FIRST, with which several members are familiar. Every member has the opportunity to learn to use these tangible facilities, as well as enhance their leadership and teamwork skills. And once a student has learned something, they can enforce that newfound knowledge by teaching others. The mentors? They teach us the things we don’t know yet, and manage the logistics. They’re here to help out and empower the team members, not to do the work for us.