{"id":67,"date":"2026-04-29T12:46:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T12:46:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blissfieldadvance.com\/?p=67"},"modified":"2026-04-29T12:48:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T12:48:07","slug":"blissfield-robotics-team-headed-to-houston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blissfieldadvance.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/29\/blissfield-robotics-team-headed-to-houston\/","title":{"rendered":"Blissfield Robotics Team Headed to Houston"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By COLBY SCHIKORA
Advance Reporter
Just when it appeared the season had ended for The Flying Octopi \u2013 Blissfield\u2019s High School Robotics team \u2013 after they departed the state championship with an injured robot \u2013 one email changed it all.
Robotics coach Loretta Cox received an email from First Inspires saying the team and their robot, FRC#8373, had officially been invited to compete at the First World Championships in Houston, Texas.
The Flying Octopi are set to challenge roughly 600 other teams from around the world. The competition is divided into eight separate divisions, each consisting of 75 different teams. Each team participates in 10 qualifying matches \u2013 followed by a playoff round \u2013 to establish the champion in each division.
The eight division winners rival in a final playoff to determine the World Champion.
The Flying Octopi are a part of the Newton Division, taking on teams from states all around the country, as well as teams from Israel, Brazil, United Kingdom, Mexico, China, and Turkey. This World competition will serve as a pathway for these Blissfield students to connect and network with like-minded individuals from around the world.
The matches will be live streamed on the FIRST Inspires YouTube channel under the Newton field stream. Matches begin at 9 a.m. ET on Thursday and will wrap-up around 7 p.m. on Friday. If the team is able to reach the final playoff, that will be live streamed on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Flying Octopi depart from Blissfield High School on Tuesday, April 28. Thanks to generous sponsors, 10 students and five mentors are able to attend the event, covering airfare, hotel, robot and pit shipment, shuttle and Uber service, metro bus cards, as well as $250 credit card for food during the trip.
Blissfield robotics would like to thank the following for their generosity and assistance in allowing The Flying Octopi to be a part of this once-in-a-lifetime experience: Adrian Mechanical Services, Adrian Precision Machining, Amy Galvan, Auto trim of Northwest Ohio, Bailey Family Chiropractor, Becca Hill, BFEE, BK Industries, Inc, Blissfield Arbor, Blissfield BP, Blissfield Community Schools, Blissfield Lions Club, Blissfield Rotary, Blissfield State Bank, Chad & Danyell Johnson, Charles & Kathy Lewis, Cheryle Hopper, Clift Buick-GMC, Constance Graf, Cornwell Quality Tools, Cox Family Farms, Craig Bettis, Dana Inc, D&N Upholstery, Glady Sprunk, Greg & Dixie Andres, H & H Repair, Hi-Lex, Hunt Veterinary Service PLLC, Jacqueline Kaczorowski, Jeff Miller, Jesse Cooper, Josh Miller, JT Puszczewicz, Julie Goll, Kathleen Bunker, Kenneth Lake, Kirchhoff Automotive, Kristen Ingersoll, Lenawee Community Foundation, Lenco Credit Union, Lenco Painting, Inc., MAC-Blissfield, Mallory Iffland, Nutrien, Opmobility, Pixley Heating and Cooling, Raptor Industries LLC, Sarah Martinez, Scotty\u2019s Body Shop, Shannon Oliver, Stephanie Lang, Village Wealth Management, Wagley Funeral Home, Warner Tax Preparations Service, William Strouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a first, not only for Blissfield, but for any robotics team in Lenawee County, Cox said.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By COLBY SCHIKORAAdvance ReporterJust when it appeared the season had ended for The Flying Octopi \u2013 Blissfield\u2019s High School Robotics team \u2013 after they departed the state championship with an injured robot \u2013 one email changed it all.Robotics coach Loretta Cox received an email from First Inspires saying the team and their robot, FRC#8373, had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":69,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[14,15],"class_list":["post-67","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blissfield","tag-blissfield","tag-schools"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blissfieldadvance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blissfieldadvance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blissfieldadvance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blissfieldadvance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blissfieldadvance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blissfieldadvance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70,"href":"https:\/\/blissfieldadvance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67\/revisions\/70"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blissfieldadvance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blissfieldadvance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blissfieldadvance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blissfieldadvance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}