Robotics Team 5229

Home of the Heritage High School FIRST Robotics Team: the Hawkbots!

Lead Mentors
Email Jim Mitchell
Email Brian Kaetzel
All mentors can be reached at this Email.

Welcome

Welcome to the Heritage Hawkbots FRC Team 5229 website!
We have over 30 new and returning students tentatively signed up for the 2024 FIRST Robotics season CRESENDO. The name "FIRST" is an acronym for "For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology." The goal of the FIRST program is to inspire students through hands-on experience working with technical professionals to build a robot. You can find team news, upcoming events, and contact information here. There are many ways to get involved in the team as a student, mentor, volunteer or financial sponsor. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to get involved.

We meet on Wed. evenings in the off season (Sept-Dec./April-May) and multiple times a week during our robot build season (Jan.-March). If interested in joining the team, stop by Heritage room 309 on Thursday evening and check out what we are currently working on! Parents are always welcome to meetings too.  

Jim Mitchell

Team Apparel

Team apparel. The team will provide a t-shirt and face mask to each team member. Additional shirts, hats, masks and hoodies (coming soon) are available for purchase on this website. 

Passcode hawkbots2022

Robotics Mentors

Jim Mitchell

Head Mentor/Scouting/Game Strategy

Brian Kaetzel

Lead Mentor/Programming/Systems Integration/Mechanical/Design

Tom Sanders

Electrical

Juan Valdez Garcia

Event Planning/Parent Organization

Michelle Kalkman

Mechanical/Design

Nicholas Sonnenberg

Mechanical/Design

Rebecca Yager

Mechanical/Design

General Team Meetings

Wednesdays 6:30 pm - 8:15 pm - All Summer or until students stop attending!

Heritage High School Room 309

Exterior doors closest to 309 open 10 minutes before meetings and close 10 minutes after the meeting starts.

What is FIRST Robotics?

To learn more about FIRST Robotics, events, volunteer and scholarship opportunities visit the official webpage link below.

Website Here

Volunteers Needed

In order to be sure we have a successful event for everyone, we rely on volunteers. This is also a great way for teams to network with other teams, learn more about how FIRST runs, and become more involved with your team!

 Every team needs to provide 2 volunteers for each day of competition. We usually have 4 people sign up for half days. Here is the information on volunteering:

There are a variety of available roles both technical and non-technical. A list of roles with descriptions is linked here: FRC Volunteer Roles & Descriptions.

Apply to volunteer today!

  1. Login to or create your FIRST Account.

  2. Click the Volunteer Registration tab & click ‘Volunteer at an Event’

  3. Filter events by program (FIRST Robotics Competition) and type the name of the region (e.g., Michigan)

  4. Select FIM District (Your event name here) Event - FRC

  5. Select your role or choose “Assign as Needed”

  6. Complete your FIRST HQ Consent/Release Form which is electronically signed once a season.

  7. -Complete your FIRST Youth Protection background screening (renewed every 4 years). The screening is free of charge. 

  1. If your background screening needs to be updated, please follow the links on your FIRST Account to Sterling Volunteers to complete those forms. In general, screening reports are completed within a few business days

You can also check out these step-by-step instructions.

Thank You for Supporting FIRST and the Heritage Hawkbots!!!

Walled Lake Event

2019 Robot

2019 robot

Heritage Hawkbots - Midland Competition