FIRST Robotics Area 5188 Inspires Future Rose-Hulman Innovators
Monday, August 03, 2026
Rose-Hulman students mentor FIRST Robotics Area 5188, guiding them through designing and programming a robot, while reinforcing their own understanding of engineering principles.
FIRST Robotics Team Area 5188 is a bit unusual for a collegiate competition team: the college students aren't the competitors. Instead, Rose-Hulman students mentor local high school students in designing, building, programming, and competing a robot to match the competition game each year. The Rose-Hulman mentors — many of whom are FIRST alumni themselves — draw insights from their engineering education to guide the high school students while gaining valuable skills in leadership and communication.
“In addition to being a great place for local high school students to learn and grow, 5188 provides impactful opportunities for the mentors as well. They say teaching is the best way to learn, and this team is proof,” said Kathryn Jonas, junior electrical engineering major and president of the FIRST Robotics mentors. “Our mentors gain leadership and communication skills, as well as a deeper understanding of the technical skills they are learning in their Rose-Hulman classes.”
Area 5188: Classified Robotics is part of the global FIRST Robotics Competition program, a community inspiring STEM innovation in students in grades K-12. Each year, FIRST announces a worldwide theme and game, and in less than six weeks, teams must CAD and fabricate a robot optimized for gameplay. This year's game, REBUILT, tasked robots with a basketball-esque challenge, maneuvering around opponents and obstacles on the competition surface to shoot balls into a designated tower. Each match lasts just under three minutes, beginning with a 20-second autonomous period during which robots must navigate without human controls.
At FIRST Robotics competitions, teams are placed on an alliance with two other teams, who work together to defeat an opposing three-team alliance. During a competition's qualifying matches, these alliances are randomly selected, and alliance members earn points toward their team's individual rankings. At the end of the qualifying matches, the top eight teams are invited to be alliance captains for the playoff tournament and draft two other teams to join their alliance for double-elimination bracket play.
At the Washington District Event, in Washington, Indiana, Area 5188 was named an alliance captain and successfully led their team through three playoff matches. The team also earned the Autonomous Award at the same competition. The award is presented in celebration of "the team whose machine has demonstrated consistent, reliable, high-performance robot operation during autonomous actions during match play…based on the robot's ability to sense its surroundings, position itself or onboard mechanisms appropriately, and execute tasks," according to the FIRST Robotics website.
In addition to their competitive accolades, Area 5188 successfully laid the foundation for future generations of STEM students. Of their high school mentees, 55% of students were new to the team, marking a strong year for recruiting and training. The Rose-Hulman mentors welcomed these new students with open arms, introducing them to programming and design as well as the machinery within the Branam and Kremer Innovation Centers.
In the 2024-2025 academic year, the mentors and the high school students bonded together to create even more opportunities for STEM education in the local community. Working in tandem with the Vigo County School Corporation, the team helped launch two FIRST LEGO League teams at area schools, giving elementary and middle school students the opportunity to be enraptured by robotics. In its second year as a team and first full year of competition, the DeVaney Elementary team, mentored by Area 5188 members, qualified for and competed at the Indiana State FIRST LEGO League Championship, reflecting their sense of discovery and the mentorship and dedication of the older students.
“When I was a youth team member, I was inspired to pursue an engineering career by my mentors, so knew I had to give back to the program in some way,” said Jonas. “Mentoring the passionate and innovative students of 5188, as well as participating in FIRST events in the community, has been my most rewarding experience at Rose. I would recommend our team and program to any student who wants to be a role model for the future generation.”
Globally, FIRST Robotics proudly declares that its mission is "more than robots," a phrase embodied by the Rose-Hulman FIRST Robotics Team Area 5188: Classified Robotics. The mentors and high school students alike develop lifelong friendships, build critical STEM and communication skills, and make an impact in their local communities, all while creating a robot with out-of-this-world capabilities.
“In addition to being a great place for local high school students to learn and grow, 5188 provides impactful opportunities for the mentors as well. They say teaching is the best way to learn, and this team is proof,” said Kathryn Jonas, junior electrical engineering major and president of the FIRST Robotics mentors. “Our mentors gain leadership and communication skills, as well as a deeper understanding of the technical skills they are learning in their Rose-Hulman classes.”
Area 5188: Classified Robotics is part of the global FIRST Robotics Competition program, a community inspiring STEM innovation in students in grades K-12. Each year, FIRST announces a worldwide theme and game, and in less than six weeks, teams must CAD and fabricate a robot optimized for gameplay. This year's game, REBUILT, tasked robots with a basketball-esque challenge, maneuvering around opponents and obstacles on the competition surface to shoot balls into a designated tower. Each match lasts just under three minutes, beginning with a 20-second autonomous period during which robots must navigate without human controls.
At FIRST Robotics competitions, teams are placed on an alliance with two other teams, who work together to defeat an opposing three-team alliance. During a competition's qualifying matches, these alliances are randomly selected, and alliance members earn points toward their team's individual rankings. At the end of the qualifying matches, the top eight teams are invited to be alliance captains for the playoff tournament and draft two other teams to join their alliance for double-elimination bracket play.
At the Washington District Event, in Washington, Indiana, Area 5188 was named an alliance captain and successfully led their team through three playoff matches. The team also earned the Autonomous Award at the same competition. The award is presented in celebration of "the team whose machine has demonstrated consistent, reliable, high-performance robot operation during autonomous actions during match play…based on the robot's ability to sense its surroundings, position itself or onboard mechanisms appropriately, and execute tasks," according to the FIRST Robotics website.
In addition to their competitive accolades, Area 5188 successfully laid the foundation for future generations of STEM students. Of their high school mentees, 55% of students were new to the team, marking a strong year for recruiting and training. The Rose-Hulman mentors welcomed these new students with open arms, introducing them to programming and design as well as the machinery within the Branam and Kremer Innovation Centers.
In the 2024-2025 academic year, the mentors and the high school students bonded together to create even more opportunities for STEM education in the local community. Working in tandem with the Vigo County School Corporation, the team helped launch two FIRST LEGO League teams at area schools, giving elementary and middle school students the opportunity to be enraptured by robotics. In its second year as a team and first full year of competition, the DeVaney Elementary team, mentored by Area 5188 members, qualified for and competed at the Indiana State FIRST LEGO League Championship, reflecting their sense of discovery and the mentorship and dedication of the older students.
“When I was a youth team member, I was inspired to pursue an engineering career by my mentors, so knew I had to give back to the program in some way,” said Jonas. “Mentoring the passionate and innovative students of 5188, as well as participating in FIRST events in the community, has been my most rewarding experience at Rose. I would recommend our team and program to any student who wants to be a role model for the future generation.”
Globally, FIRST Robotics proudly declares that its mission is "more than robots," a phrase embodied by the Rose-Hulman FIRST Robotics Team Area 5188: Classified Robotics. The mentors and high school students alike develop lifelong friendships, build critical STEM and communication skills, and make an impact in their local communities, all while creating a robot with out-of-this-world capabilities.