When Caleeya Coleman was in seventh grade, she had a book published titled “The Elite Team.” It’s a tale of students who are tasked with saving the world. Coleman is now a junior at Chicago Christian High School in Palos Heights and is a part of an elite team in the robotics world. While the R oboKnights are not out to save the world, they are making a name for themselves in Illinois and hope to grow their fame nationally as well. Thanks in part to an essay penned by Coleman on behalf of the team, the RoboKnights were selected by Gov. JB Pritzker’s staff to represent Illinois in the inaugural United States Governor’s Cup Feb. 20-21 in Washington, D.C. “I was really proud,” Coleman said about getting word the team is heading to Washington. “I honestly didn’t think that we were going to make it. But our performance showed we are a stronger team. “We’re encouraged. Man, we’re in this. We’re doing this. This is a huge accomplishment for us.” The accomplishments just keep coming. Shortly after finding out the big news that they were going to Washington, the RoboKnights hosted the FIRST Robotics South Suburban Robotics Meet in Palos Heights. Competitors from several area high schools, including Homewood-Flossmoor, Lincoln-Way Central and Lincoln-Way East, participated in 15 rounds of action in the Decode robotics game in which robots shot balls into a basket and bonus points were given if they were in a designated order. Teams from Darien and Downers Grove also competed. It was the second leg of a series of FIRST Tech competitions and when Saturday’s action was over, the RoboKnights 21333 team was in first place and the RoboKnights 26980 team was in second place. The state qualifier is Feb. 14 at Parker Junior High in Flossmoor. Members of Chicago Christian High School’s RoboKnights team compete in a tournament Saturday at the school in Palos Heights. They'll be taking their robots to Washington, D.C., in February to compete at the national level. (Jeff Vorva/Daily Southtown) Saturday’s competition was separate from the Governor’s Cup, which is hosted by the U.S, Department of Education and will take place in the DAR Constitution Hall. Caleeya Coleman, Kyle Derks, Stephen Gordon, Timmy McKee, Josiah Kuecker, Hayden Scott, Aiden Soucek, Ryan Vanden Bosch, Cohen Van Wyk, Heather King and Jayden Zhang will represent the Knights. Zhang is an exchange student from China who is living with a family in Crestwood and has been attending Chicago Christian for two years. He wants to stay in the country and study aviation at Lewis University. He said he is not sure how he ended up at Chicago Christian. “It’s so random – I don’t know,” he said. “But I love America and decided to stay. “It was tough at first. I was learning English and in my mind, I was using Chinese and English at the same time but I don’t do that anymore.” He said he is looking forward to seeing Washington, D.C. “It will be really fun,” he said. “I want to see the Capital and the White House and things like that.” The RoboKnights 21333 robot is one of the top robots in Illinois and will be heading to Washington in February along with the robotics team from Chicago Christian High School in Palos Heights. (Jeff Vorva/Daily Southtown) RoboKnights coach and chemistry teacher Ryan Verver is proud of how far the program has come in four years, and said the invitation to the Governor’s Cup is a highlight for the program. “We tried qualifying for some of those things before and we were not successful,” Verver said. “So, it was a little bit of a surprise that we had done it. They were super excited when I announced to them that we got that.” Verver thinks the team will represent the state well. “We have a very experienced, veteran team,” he said. “We have a lot of seniors on the team.” But it was more than just the know-how of the students and the performance of the robots that got the RoboKnights the bid. He said the essay had to emphasize the team, what the students do, and how they would represent Illinois. “This is an exhibition event where they want to celebrate FIRST Tech Challenge,” Verver said of the Governor’s Cup. “There are about 350 FTC teams in the state, so to be the one selected is a really cool thing.” Coleman, a Robbins resident, has writing chops and is strong in robotics skills but is looking at studying marketing and criminology in college. She is looking forward to her first trip to Washington. “This is the first year this is happening and we’re the only team in the state selected,” she said. “There were hundreds of teams for this one spot and we got it. “We really want to have fun down there but also to represent the state of Illinois in a way that’s honoring the state and showing people who we are.” Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown. ...read more read less