Jim Elliot Christian’s robotics team sets sights on world championship
Jim Elliot’s Christian High School’s FIRST Robotics team — Team 1662: Raptor Force Engineering — is at the University of California, Davis this weekend to compete in the Sacramento FIRST Robotics regional competition. The team hopes to qualify for the World Championship in Houston.
The team arrived in Davis on Wednesday, and will compete through Saturday.
If they make it to the Houston competition, it will be the ninth time Elliot Christian has competed at the worldwide level in Raptor Force’s 12year history.
FIRST — “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology” — was founded in 1989 to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology.
Founded in 1989 and based in Manchester, N.H., FIRST is a public charity designed to inspire young people's interest and participation in science and technology, and to motivate them to pursue education and career opportunities in STEM fields.
The organization designs accessible, innovative programs that offer education in science, technology, engineering and math, while building self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills.
Students in the program have the opportunity to work alongside professional engineers as they design and build a robot for competition. They use much of the same hardware and software the robotics industry does, and learn about project management, programming and other skills.
FIRST and related organizations offer access to millions of dollars in scholarships each year.
This year, hundreds of thousands of students in more than 80 countries are participating in robot building teams.
Raptor Force Engineering is the only FIRST Robotics team in San Joaquin County. It’s open to any students in seventh to 12th grade throughout the county. The current team is made up of 13 students, 11 of whom study at Jim Elliot Christian.
Jerry Barnhardt, a FedEx pilot and father of two Elliot students, leads the team with help from other Robotics families, including an ex-team member, Ryan Neal, who now studies engineering at University of the Pacific.
“I am involved with Team 1662 because it gives students, including my daughters, invaluable skills,” Barnhardt said. “They are not only applying STEM and its methods, but are also learning real world skills, like interviewing and project management.”
His daughter Laura Barnhardt, a senior at Jim Elliot and four-year team member, agreed.
“At first, I did it because my dad wanted me to, but now I have found my passion: Robotics competitions and developing drive-team strategy,” she said. “Because of my time in Robotics, I have been offered an internship at Tesla.”
The team is competing at the ARC Pavilion at UC Davis. To read more about the competition, visit
For more information about Jim Elliot Christian High School or its robotics team, email Vice Principal Jonathan Toccoli at