Photo Credit: @frcteam1939 on Instagram
Barstow’s robotics team has nominated juniors Jack Cuezze ‘24 and Rian Jacobs ‘24 for the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Dean’s List Award. By being nominated, the pair automatically become semi-finalists for the prestigious award. The award is presented by FIRST, the robotics organization that oversees international high school robotics competitions.
Designed to stand out on college applications, the award recognizes sophomores and juniors in high school. Each team nominates two students. Dean’s List Award students are passionate leaders, spread FIRST’s message, and demonstrate technical expertise and creativity. Cuezze and Jacobs were chosen by the team’s mentors because they not only embody but also exceed these criteria.
Photo Credit: Charlotte Park ’23
“I was really happy when I learned that I was a semi-finalist and kind of glad that all my hard work paid off,” Jacobs said. “And I was glad my good friend was the other nominee.”
Both Jacobs and Cuezze have dedicated long nights and weekends to the robotics team since they were in fifth and eighth grade, respectively. They also have family ties to the team; Jacobs’ father has been an assistant coach since 2017, and their siblings Aiden Jacobs ‘20 and Tommy Cuezze ‘21 were on the robotics team throughout high school.
“My brother was on the team, so I just kind of had to go to meetings after school with him, and I just started working in spirit and then kind of moved my way up,” said Jacobs.
Cuezze had a similar story: “The person who drove me home [Tommy] was in robotics, so I would kind of show up to meetings with him in eighth grade, and I started to really enjoy it. He [Tommy] was the one who did CAD, so I started getting into CAD. I learned how to use fusion 360, our CAD software purely through robotics and self-teaching.”
Photo Credit: Charlotte Park ’23
Cuezze is the Chief Design Officer, overseeing the CAD (computer-aided design) department. The four-person team designs any part the team needs for the robot. As one of the chief officers, he also helps organize team meetings and assists any department that needs help.
One of Cuezze’s long-term goals is also to pass on his knowledge to younger students so the team can run smoothly for years to come. He’s working on creating general guidelines for how to do CAD so that when he’s no longer on the team directly to teach people, there will be documents to help them out.
Cuezze also mentors for FLL (FIRST Lego League), “I’ve put in 40 hours mentoring FLL. It’s cool to watch from more of a distance while still being a part of it and helping out at competitions.”
Jacobs focuses more on mentoring within the team. She works with eighth-grader Emily Smith ‘27 on the spirit and media team.
“Passing down knowledge was one of the big things that we kind of lost over COVID,” explained Jacobs. “So by working with an eighth grader constantly, I’m passing down that knowledge so she [Smith] can share with the younger team members through her next four years of high school.”
As the Chief Communications Officer, Jacobs helps manage the team’s social media accounts and build their presence in the robotics community. During competitions, Jacobs builds relationships with other teams through pit and match scouting. Spirit/imagery, like buttons, apparel, and decoration, is also very important during competitions.
“Our imagery helps us get to know other teams. Some teams will come up to us at competitions and say that they know us because of our imagery of the Killer Rabbits [the team’s mascot],” she said. “This year we’re trying to incorporate more imagery into our pit, so we’re completely redesigning the spirit part.”
The team’s first season competition, the Arkansas Regional, is closing in, and the two semi-finalists are excited.
“I’m just forward to seeing how we work at a competition with the new coach [Adam Arnold], especially since he is a lot more competitive than past coaches,” said Jacobs.
Cuezze and Jacobs will also be interviewed at Arkansas for Finalist consideration. Their application also includes an essay about them written by team mentor Victoria Cook. Since there are 40 teams entered at the Arkansas Regional, two students out of 80 semi-finalists will become finalists. From that pool of regional competition finalists, 10 students will become FIRST Dean’s List Winners.
The Arkansas Regional takes place on March 1 to March 4, so Cuezze and Jacobs are working hard on final preparations. Congratulations to Cuezze and Jacobs, and good luck at Arkansas!
