A group of robotics competitors at the FIRST Robotics Competition got a boost from Canada's Governor General.
The all-girl Amazon Warrior team from Windsor got some support from Governor General Julie Payette — they're competing at the FIRST Robotics Challenge at Cobo Centre in Detroit.
The former astronaut met the team and cheered them on and Grade 10 Assumption student McKenzie Soulliere says it was a huge thrill to meet Payette.
"She just asked us how it went, she said she was really proud of us and how we were representing girls in STEM, it was really cool," she says.
Madison Vickery, also in Grade 10, is a student at Ursuline College in Chatham.
She says having the Governor General cheering them on was something special.
"Very rewarding, especially to know she wanted to talk to us personally so she could congratulate us, that was very special to us," says Vickery.
Team mentor and LaSalle native Sherry-Lynn Kochelski tells AM800 News it was great to have a role model reinforce what they could achieve.
"Showing them that all the things they're learning here have a future to it and they have opportunities that they can pursue as well," she says.
Phase two of the event — that has brought teams from across North America — takes place Saturday.