This past weekend the robotics team participated in the FIRST Lonestar High School Competition at the the George R. Brown Convention Center. Hogg was the only middle school to attend the event. There were approximately 66 high schools in attendance. The Lone Star Regional has always been known as one of the hardest competitions worldwide because of the presences of teams sponsored and mentored by NASA, Jacobs Engineering, BP, oceaneering and many other engineering companies based in Houston. Many of these schools have the assistance of about 12 to 20 engineers and have access to some very high quality workshops. Although, the Hogg kids did not return to with a physical trophy this year, they did have their best performance ever. For the first time ever, a middle school made it as far as the quarterfinals of the tournament. Hogg finished ranked eighth in the tournament. NASA has invited six of our top kids to attend the World Championships with them and their team in Atlanta Georgia next week. They don't just want our kids to attend, but want our kids to be part of their team. We hope that with our experience with NASA at the World Championships we can become one of the top teams next year.