The team of Belize High School students took part in the FIRST Global Challenge 2022 in Geneva, Switzerland, from October 13 – 16. The Olympics-style competition featured teams from over 180 countries.

by Khaila Gentle

GENEVA, Switzerland, Mon. Oct. 17, 2022

The members of the Belize High School Robotics Team won the gold prize at the FIRST Global Challenge 2022. The challenge, which saw participation from 180 teams from across the world, is an Olympics-style international robotics competition for high-school-aged youth that takes place in a different country each year. For the past two years, the competition has been a virtual one due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but on October 13, participants and their mentors gathered face-to-face in Geneva, Switzerland.

FIRST Global, a non-profit organization, was established to promote science and technology leadership and innovation among young people through the sport of robotics. Each year, the organization invites countries to send a team to build and program a robot to compete in the FIRST Global Challenge. The focus of the competition is addressing some of the greatest challenges faced by the globe.

“Participants will see how they can compete to each provide better solutions, but more importantly, how they can work together. We’re all on the same team. We’re all competing with the same global challenges. The FIRST Global Challenge enables kids around the world to all participate in solving problems, and cooperate with each other to solve the world’s problems,” said the founder of FIRST Global, Dean Kamen.

This year’s theme was “Carbon Capture.” Throughout the challenge, nation teams—in groups of three or four—competed to capture and store carbon, which, according to FIRST Global, demonstrated the collective effort that is required to protect the atmosphere and slow the effects of climate change. It also highlighted the importance of collaborating across places of origin, religions, and cultures, to build a better tomorrow.

Belize, along with Switzerland, Botswana, and Lithuania, made up the winning alliance of the competition’s final match.

Today, during the Sitting of the House of Representatives, Prime Minister John Briceño rose to congratulate Team Belize for a job well done.

“Here we have little Belize taking on huge countries, much more developed countries, and our students, our country, won the FIRST gold medal,” he said.

Team Belize was made up of Belize High School students Justin Zhou, who acted as team captain; co-captain Benny He, Jaden Chen, Melysa Choi, and Tristian Bradley. The team’s mascot was the scarlet macaw, and they were accompanied by their mentor and the school’s principal, Jamie Usher, who said on Saturday that the students will be taking home the invaluable life lessons that they have been taught throughout its course.

“This competition is a reminder that it is not always about winning but it is about competing collaboratively. A big part [and] a big transition for our teenagers in this competition is that it is about meeting people and working with them rather than getting your own way,” she said.

The students were also mentored by Godfrey Sosa, Gustavo Carrillo, Ray Liang, Luis Silva, and Armando Moralez. The students’ winning robot was named Kaax, after the Maya god who is the protector of wildlife.

Per Caribbean Loop News, this is the first time that a team from the Caribbean has won a medal at the competition. In 2018, Jamaica placed 15th, which was the region’s best performance up until now.