On Saturday, January 11, the SGS FTC Robotics teams competed in the regional competition at Hanford High School. Both teams performed very well and won awards - see a Photo Gallery of the teams at Hanford by Chase Foster.  

Team 7935 received the Control Award for their expertise in advanced software techniques, algorithms and their reliability.  During the competition they were able to stack six stones high with a cap, which was the highest for this region. This team also advanced to the semi-finals but was beat out by their own team members, team 6128.  Team 6128 received the Judges Award for their gracious professionalism and mentoring the younger team.  This team advanced to the finals and with their alliance from Hanford High they handily beat the opposing alliance and won the tournament!  Team 6128 will be advancing to the State Finals in Kent, WA this upcoming weekend. 

Saint George's Debate program hosted a tournament on Dec. 13-15 that attracted top high school debate teams from up and down the West Coast.  See a Photo Gallery of the two SGS teams -- Alli & Paul and Gabi & Tariq -- competing in the policy debates.

On Saturday, Dec. 7, Saint George’s FIRST Lego League Robotics Team #40706, the Unreliable Sparkplugs, competed at the Eastern Washington Regional Competition held at Salk Middle School.  In our second year, the team did extremely well, improving in several areas of judging.  Congratulations to Thatcher Canady, Riley Engels, Hadley Henrickson, Matthew Longstreth, Sophia Naccarato, Delaney Nachreiner, Adrian Rooney, Per Sande, Katie Schultheis, and Natalie Sorenson for a job well done!  See a Photo Gallery of them at the competition.  

The team ran three different robots in their matches to give more students experience "at the board."  Coach Michelle Bledsoe reports that the first robot (run by Delaney, Hadley, & Sophia) had a good run and they were able to successfully park their bot on the bridge, ending with 90 points.  The second robot (run by Per & Matthew L), had a great run, completing several missions and earning 170 points, thanks to some last minute programming on the way to the match.  Thatcher and Adrian ran the third robot, which didn’t earn a high score but was a good exercise in problem solving.  Team #40706 finished ranked 18th out of 35 teams and is determined to do even better next year!    

The Pilgrim's Progress chess tournament at Saint George's on Saturday, Nov. 23 had 37 competitors from as far away as Pullman, including eight players from SGS.  Saint George's won the team trophy.  Winning individual trophies were Noah Hochheimer (4.0), second in Knights section (tied for first, but lost to the player he tied with); Oliver Ling (4.0), second in Bishop's section; Eshan Reddy (3.5), top in grade 4; and Jonah Hurst (3.0), top high school player.  Donovan Bradford (3.5) had the same score as Eshan, and thus tied for top in 4th grade. Eshan won the sole award since he played in the top section, and so presumably had tougher competition, said coach James Stripes. 

Saint George's FIRST Tech Challenge team #7935 participated in their first competition of the year on Nov. 3 at Gonzaga Prep.  Their robot was the autonomous "start of the day" according to coach Rick DeFord, and they are currently in 2nd place.  Thanks to 10th grader Chase Foster for this Photo Gallery from the competition.  

Congratulations to the SGS Chess Club participants for winning the team trophy at the Queen's Crown Chess Tournament last Saturday, Oct. 26.  The chess players were Eshan Reddy (1st place in the top section), Adrian Rooney (qualified for State), Preston Sevigny, Noah Hochheimer, and Kristopher McKethen.  Go Dragons!

Saint George's Robotics team #1595 demonstrated their latest robot at FIRST Washington's Change the World Fundraiser on Wednesday, May 15.  The evening included student demonstrations from several teams of different ages.  Then Dr. Charlotte Lamp, a former SGS parent and the mother of Spokane astronaut Anne McClain, talked about Anne's dream of becoming an astronaut at a very young age and the path she followed to make that dream come true.  Read more about the FIRST Event at Spokane STEM News.  

Four students from Saint George's School participated in the final local chess tournament for 2018-2019, the Last Chance.  Eshan Reddy was the only player among the 32 participants who finished with a perfect 5.0; he took home the trophy for first place in the Bishop section.  Adrian Rooney and Donovan Bradford both finished with 3.0 and each won their respective grade level trophy; Adrian was 1st in fourth grade, and Donovan was 1st in third grade.  The team score, which included Noah Hochheimer, put SGS in a tie with Deer Park Home Link, both at 12.  Team ties are resolved by going to the fifth player, leaving SGS in 2nd place.  The season ends with the Washington State Elementary Chess Championship in Tacoma on April 27.  Six SGS students are registered for State -- Adrian, Donovan, Eshan, Noah, Per Sande, and Preston Sevigny.  Go Dragons!

During what many observers marked a “rebuilding season,” Saint George’s collection of young debaters placed 2nd in the GSL Tournament, and qualified two young policy teams to the State Tournament, held at University of Puget Sound over the weekend of March 23-24.  As always, SGS contended against schools of all sizes.  This year’s up-and-coming SGS State Tournament contenders included: Gabi Cunningham (10), Paul Darnall (10), and Tariq Ravasia (9).  Senior Charlie Darnall also made his fourth consecutive appearance at the State Tournament.  He had previously reached the State Final Four three times, one of the all-time great Saint George’s records.  In Fall 2019, Saint George’s will return several of the youngest, most competitive debaters in the Pacific Northwest.  Watch out! 

Saint George's FIRST Robotics team #1595 reached the quarterfinals of the West Valley Regional competition on March 22-23 while earning both the Judges Award (for mentoring and STEM development) and the Pit Safety Award.  Past Dragon robotics participants were there to cheer them on, and the team also gave a tour to the SGS 3rd grade Lego League Jr team.  See photo galleries of the Robotics Team and Supporters as well as the 3rd Grade Team at the competition.