This past May, FIRST Tech Challenge Team 30700, Seven Seas, took our mission of STEM advocacy straight to the heart of downtown Des Moines at the 2026 CelebrAsian Festival! Nestled among the vibrant cultural villages, incredible food vendors, and live performances at Western Gateway Park, our team was thrilled to host a live Robotics Demo Competition & Showcase.

As a rookie team, one of our core pillars is bridging communities through technology. CelebrAsian provided the ultimate platform to do just that, welcoming over 100,000 festival-goers throughout the weekend.

Our booth quickly turned into a high-energy hub for future innovators. We gave kids, parents, and community members a first hand experience into the world of competitive robotics.

Team Seven Seas was honored to welcome Iowa State Representative David Young to our team base!

During his visit, Representative Young met the team, checked out our workshop, and saw our competition robot in action. We had a great time sharing our journey as a rookie FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) team and discussing how important STEM education and youth robotics are for Iowa's future. Thank you, Rep. Young, for taking the time to support our team and cheer on the next generation of innovators!

On March 3rd, FIRST Tech team Seven Seas had an exciting evening of STEM outreach with the young scouts of Cub Scout Pack 180.

The team Seven Seas did a presentation to the scouts and their families to the thrilling world of competitive robotics, explaining how they designed, built, and programmed their robot from the ground up. Under the guidance of the Seven Seas crew, the excited young scouts stepped up to the controls, taking the wheel to drive the team's official competition robot and test out its mechanisms first-hand. It was a hands-on learning, teamwork, and inspiration, laying the groundwork for the next generation of future engineers!

Seven Seas was in Coralville for State FTC Championship. We were black division's finalist alliance. We were the runner ups. We got placed 3rd for Think Award. Overall we were ranked at 12th place and qualified to apply for Premier Event.

Photo credits to - Bryan of Dreamscenses Photography, Dale H and Lisa B 

Seven Seas was one of two teams that presented FTC at the FLL State Competition 2026. We Taught students how to drive a real competition robot, as well as teaching the basics of FTC. This was our largest outreach event, reaching over 200 students in total and spreading awareness of FIRST Tech Challenge specifically.

Seven Seas takes part in an initiative called Waves of Outreach, connecting with other FTC teams around the world to share ideas and grow together.

On August 2, we took part in our very first outreach event at India Day. At this celebration, we introduced our team and shared the mission of FIRST, aiming to inspire children and families to explore the world of robotics and get involved in the program.