KILLER BEES ADD TO LEGACY WITH RECENT CHAMPIONSHIP

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December 3, 2024

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Notre Dame Prep, named 2024 OCCRA champion, sets its sights on more success in the upcoming FIRST Robotics season as the world's eighth-ranked team calls for more members from the upper school. 

On Nov. 23, Notre Dame Prep's Killer Bees team not only competed in the Oakland County Competitive Robotics Association (OCCRA) championship event at Seaholm High School in Birmingham, they won the event and were named OCCRA champions. It's a huge honor for the team, especially since OCCRA is a fully student-led robotics program. The win put an exclamation point on a stellar fall OCCRA season that saw the Bees earn five awards in total. 

OCCRA is a two-month full-contact robotics competition, typically in the fall, where students build and control 120-pound robo-gladiators to achieve specific physical goals while opponents try to stop them. It's worth noting that Jim Zondag, the Stellantis engineer and longtime mentor of NDP's Killer Bees robotics team, started OCCRA specifically to help promote robotics in Oakland County.

According to NDP senior Ethan Dhomnic, who currently serves as club president for the Killer Bees FIRST Robotics team, OCCRA participants not only learn practical applicable knowledge, but also the skills of working collaboratively in groups, along with teamwork, good sportsmanship, and quick thinking on their feet. 

"Our victory at the OCCRA Championship at Seaholm was exhilarating," said Dhomnic. "It was an awesome ending to an incredibly fun and enriching season. We had a blast winning with our alliance partner, team 469, Las Guerrillas, from International Academy. We also learned a lot by stepping up to face the season's challenges, working together effectively, and ultimately producing an award-winning robot." 

Dhomnic also highlighted the benefits of the international FIRST Robotics program, which was founded by Dean Kamen and Woodie Flowers in 1989, with an expressed goal of developing ways to inspire students in the engineering and technology fields. 

"We are super excited and looking forward to competing in the 2025 FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) season, which will also be the team's 30th anniversary season," Dhomnic said. "We've had a tremendous amount of success since our inception in 1996 and are currently ranked eighth in the world in all-time event wins out of nearly 4,000 teams."

Currently, NDP's FIRST team is comprised of about 15 students, but Dhomnic says they're actively looking to recruit more team members for the upcoming FRC season. In addition to Stellantis engineer Zondag, the team is overseen by several other highly committed adult mentors, including NDP/Killer Bees alum Daniel Murvar NDP'18. 

Junior Mary Rose Montales, who is the team driver and one of the student leaders, is unequivocal about what it means to be a member of the Killer Bees FIRST team.

"FIRST Robotics has taught me so much, not just about engineering, but about collaboration in a team," she said. "It really encourages strong bonds to be formed, and I’ve met some of my best friends through this team. Additionally, I’ve been able to find my own voice and grow so much in confidence through my time on the Killer Bees. It honestly has been a great experience and I highly recommend it for any NDP student."

Fellow Bee Dhomnic agrees wholeheartedly.

"Joining the Killer Bees was one of the best decisions I've made in my life," he said. "Although it requires a lot of dedication and hard work, the FIRST Robotics program is extremely fun and rewarding. For example, I've learned valuable skills that will help me in a future STEM career, including machining, electrical and software skills. However, the benefits of the Killer Bees team and FIRST Robotics go beyond STEM and its purely technical aspects. My time on the Bees has helped me grow as a leader, gain better communication and teamwork skills, and make amazing new friends."

Competition in the FIRST league usually begins in late February or early March. For now, the team is looking forward to and preparing for the January kickoff of the 2025 FRC game, called Reefscape, as well as the pre-competition build season (which runs from January through February). 

Dhomnic said he can't wait for this 30th anniversary season to begin and hopes to continue the school's decades-long success in FRC.

"In today's world of ever-changing technology, industrial capability and incredible robots, it has never been a better time to join the Killer Bees," he said. 

Contact Ethan Dhomnic (ethandhomnic@ndpma.org) or Mary Rose Montales (maryrosemontales@ndpma.org) for more info.

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Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org

About Notre Dame Preparatory School
"At Notre Dame Prep, we inspire our students to become the best versions of themselves. We challenge them through an experience of academic excellence, focused on active, project-based learning. We invite them to explore a world of opportunities beyond the classroom. We guide them as they grow in spirituality within a community strong in its Catholic and Marist identity."

Notre Dame Preparatory School is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. Notre Dame Preparatory School's upper school enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame Prep's middle and lower schools enroll students in pre-kindergarten through grade eight. All three schools are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDP is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the National Association of Independent Schools. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School, visit the school’s home page at www.ndprep.org.