The CocoNuts Robotics Team

If you aren’t already familiar with the innovative, young group that is the CocoNuts Robotics team we are glad to change that. If you are already familiar, stay tuned to learn what they have planned for the future. The first Northern Arizona robotics team of its kind, the CocoNuts were founded right here in Flagstaff at Coconino High School in 2007. Not only have they built exemplarary robots and received many prestigious awards, but are also heavily involved in the community. ​

They won their 9th Regional Chairman's Award this year!

Let's take a moment to celebrate these amazing young people that make up the CocoNuts and acknowledge their impact on our STEM community. Some past community outreach from the team includes but is not limited to: building a ¼ scale Lunar Rover for Flagstaff’s Lunar Legacy celebration, partnering with NAU and Lowell Observatory to host the Lunar Legacy Robotics Invitational on the anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, volunteering at over two dozen FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) events, teaching workshops for teachers interested in starting FIRST Lego league teams, and recently leading activities for the computer science week at Killip Elementary School.

4th of July demo of the ¼ scale Lunar Rover at Lowell Observatory

This season, the CocoNuts are focusing on supporting teams and our community in the following ways: 

• We 3D printed 500 face shields and donated them to Tuba City Medical Center to help aid the frontline workers helping with the pandemic
• We're sponsoring a grant for Arizona FIRST Tech Challenge teams that may have lost funding to help them pay for their event registration. 
• We're working with NAU to offer remote workshops for teachers interested in robotics
• We ran a remote Kickoff in September which featured over 20 recorded workshops from us and from teams around the state for FIRST Tech Challenge. 
• We're working on a t-shirt drive that will support T-Tugs, a non-profit created by one of our students. T-Tugs are dog toys made of reused t-shirts. Part of the proceeds from each Tug goes to animal shelters. ​

First Tech Challenge

They haven't had a chance to compete with this year's robot (yet) but are hopeful for the chance in the upcoming year. Their 2021 competition season will include: 

• A chance to demonstrate the capabilities of our robot 
  
• A chance to solve a real-world problem that fits in the "Game Changers" challenge
  
• A chance to design a game for future robotics events
  
• The opportunity to nominate our student leaders for the Dean's List and apply for the Chairmans' Award
  

THE CocoNuts

The award announcement that was read during the Regional Chairman award ceremony states: 
“This team has done over 360 outreach events and reached more than 230,000 people in person. Their  junkyard robot challenge provides an opportunity for people of all ages to experience a FIRST-like  challenge, and their Lunar Rover is instantly recognizable. Their “FLL in a Nutshell” is a comprehensive  guide and hands-on professional development for new coaches and their Chairman’s Guide has been  downloaded more than 10,000 times. The Chairman’s Award for the Las Vegas Regional goes to team 2486  the CocoNuts from Flagstaff, AZ!”

To learn more about the award and their accomplishments check out the 2020 press release here.
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​STEM City would like to thank the CocoNuts team for everything you all do to uplift our STEM Community! We are so proud to share all of your achievements and efforts to support others.