I just read a great article in this month’s Reader’s Digest about a group of minority kids from a public high school on the “wrong side of the tracks” in Phoenix, AZ, who bested a well-funded team of engineering students from MIT to win first place in the 2004 Marine Advanced Technology Education Center’s ROV Competition. You can see some videos of the winning entry here.

We often hear of under-dog sports teams that beat all odds to win a championship. Remember “Hoosiers,” the great basketball movie about a small town team that won the Indiana state basketball championship? My kids got me the DVD for my recent birthday.

But I don’t remember hearing about these robot kids in the Arizona local press. We were probably all too pre-occupied with professional sports and other glamorous stuff.

I recommend that you read the article. It starts on page 114. My hat is off to these kids and their inspired teachers.

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Marine Advanced Technology Education Center