Loretto Academy’s robotics team completed its first competitive season this year, marking a major milestone for the program that relaunched last year under coaches Dr. Benavidez and Ms. Salcido.

This season was the group’s first time entering citywide competitions, where students were challenged to design robots capable of launching artifacts into goals similar to a basketball-style scoring system.

There are three citywide qualifying tournaments and one championship event, giving teams multiple opportunities to improve robot performance and strategize before the final championship.

Loretto hosted one of the three major tournaments, a significant achievement for a program only in its first year of actively competing.

Dr. Benavides said, “The first year we got robotics up and running, but this year we were actually able to host a tournament,” showing the program’s progress.

The robotics team is divided into several specialized groups, including a build team responsible for all construction and design of the robot’s mechanical structure.

A dedicated driver team takes control during competition days, moving robots through scoring challenges and completing timed tasks required by the competition guidelines.

The program also includes a programming and coding team, which writes and adjusts the software that determines autonomous movement and overall robot efficiency.

Another team handles outreach and community engagement, helping Loretto’s robotics program connect with local events, fundraisers, and opportunities to promote STEM involvement.

The team won the Reach Award at the FIRST Tech Challenge Championship hosted by UTEP on January 31, earning recognition for their outreach and polished presentation.

At Loretto events like Jingle Mingle, students raised funds by selling cookies, drawings, and hosting robot battles, Sophia Palos said,  “We were able to raise a lot of money.”       

Although the competitive season ended, robotics continues to study the basic robotic tools and train the current freshmen and sophomores, as they prepare for the 2026 season.