Team 66 History:     Team 66 started in 1998 as a joint venture between Willow Run High School, Ypsilanti High School, and Lincoln High School. It was founded by Willow Run High School math teacher Rob Cannon. Since then, Willow Run High School has become an independent team. For eight years our team has been sponsored by GM Powertrain Ypsilanti and we have enjoyed a real solid partnership.       In 2002, Team 66, along with Team 71 from Hammond, IN and Team 173 from East Hartford, CT, won the FIRST National Robotics Championship in Orlando, FL.      In 2003 and 2004, the team changed it's name from the Penguins to the Flyers to correlate with the rest of the school's teams. You can say that after the National Championship win, Team 66 became 'the penguins that flew.' The team also changed the logo from a penguin to a B-24 to reflect the rich history of Willow Run and its involvement in the United States' effort in World War 2. Thus, you can also say that in order to become 'the penguins that flew,'  the penguins built their own plane. ;)    The 2003 season was a challenge, with Team 66 not winning anything. But with the failures of what was known as EARL, the team learned a lot that season not only from how to build a good robot but also how the team can operate, and operate well.     Keeping the lessions learned in 2003 in mind, Team 66 officially 'took off' and made a good reputation out of the flyers name. Between 2004 and 2005, Team 66 won the local Great Lakes Regional twice, the West Michigan Regional once in 2005, the GM Industrial Design Award at West Michigan in 2005, and the Delphi "Driving Tomorrow's Technology" Award at Nationals in Atalanta, GA in 2005. All these events got recognition in the editions of the Ann Arbor News following the competitions.     2006 brought new challenges and triumphs for Team 66 as they had to build a robot that could shoot 7-inch diameter balls into a 30-inch diameter vertically oriented hoop. It is the first time the team has ever had to do such a task.    The team also, for the first time, entered in a successful Chairman's award submission. The Chairman's Award is FIRST's highest honor that recognizes a team that best exemplifies FIRST's mission and goals in short. Judges at the 2006 Great Lakes Regional picked the team to win the regional level award. At West Michigan in 2006, the team won the Motorola Quality Award. Then at the Championship event, Team 66 did not win anything, but came away with optimism for next season's competition and Chairman's Award submission.    2007 is coming quickly, and more challenges are arising, but one thing is for certain: Team 66 will continue to get more competitive, and will continue to build upon the experience of alumni members and current members alike.