Los Alamitos High School’s robotics team, the Golden Griffins, celebrated their 10th anniversary with a community open house that brought together students, families, and supporters for an inside look at one of the school’s most dedicated programs. Among the guests were Los Alamitos Unified School Board Vice President Diana Hill, Superintendent Andrew Pulver, board members Chris Forehan, Matt Bragman, and Farnaz Pardasani, and Communications and Public Information Officer Nichole Pichardo.
Team 6220, the Golden Griffins, is made up of Los Alamitos High School students passionate about pursuing careers in STEM. The team competes each year in FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a nonprofit organization founded in 1989 that encourages young people to explore STEM education and careers. During the competition season, high school teams from around the world have just weeks to design, build, and program robots weighing up to 125 pounds to complete specific field challenges. FIRST Robotics Competition is widely regarded as the ultimate sport for the mind, combining the excitement of athletic competition with real-world engineering and problem-solving. For the Golden Griffins, the work continues long after competition season ends, with members spending the offseason sharpening their skills and mentoring newer students joining the program.
Golden Griffin’s design team explains to Los Alamitos Unified School Board Vice President Diana Hill, Superintendent Andrew Pulver, and board member Chris Forehan their role in the team.
Visitors were guided through a series of hands-on workstations, each representing one of the team’s specialized subteams. At the Manufacturing station, members walked guests through the tools used to build robot components. The Electrical subteam demonstrated the wiring systems and control boards that power the robots on the competition field. The Business subteam shared their work in grant writing and securing the sponsorships that fund the program from year to year. Over at the Marketing station, team members displayed their design work and social media presence. The Design subteam showcased their use of CAD software with Onshape to accurately design the entire robot. The Programming subteam rounded out the tour by demonstrating the code behind the robots, which controls everything from basic driving to complex automated sequences during matches.
The crowd favorite of the night was the live demo, where two of the team’s robots, one built during the team’s 2025 LAEF summer camp and another used for testing critical robot functions every season, were out on the floor and available for guests to drive themselves. All of the guests took a turn at the controls, getting a feel for just how much engineering and skill goes into making the robots move with speed and precision.
The team is thankful to everyone who came out to support them and share in the celebration of ten years of robotics at Los Alamitos High School. As the Golden Griffins look toward the next decade, they remain focused on growing the program, welcoming new members, and continuing to show their community what student driven engineering looks like up close
If you are interested in supporting the Golden Griffins, please take a moment to look at our website at team6220.org or reach out at losalfrc@gmail.com! The team is constantly looking for new avenues for partnerships in order to not only construct their robot, but also provide educational opportunities for the entire school district and community.