History

Operation Orange             1994-2004

The team was started by team sponsor  P&G & Walnut Hills High School in 1994 under the name of Operation Orange. The team went on to win the National Championship during our rookie year. Just two years later the team was inducted in the FIRST Hall of Fame when it was named the National Championship Chairman’s Award winner in 1996. In the years following the team earned multiple Leadership in Controls Awards before the team moved to Northwest High School in 1998 with team sponsor Procter & Gamble.

During the years at Northwest High School the team earned back to back #1 seed and Division Champion titles. As the team grew the influence in FIRST expanded. In 2003 our team split to help create FRC team 1038 Lakota Robotics. FRC team 144 was unable to sustain on its own after the split and went dormant from 2004 until 2010.

The ROCK       2011- 2023

In the fall of 2010 former mentor, David Campbell, was hired by Butler Tech to teach an engineering program at their Colerain High School satellite campus. He was determined to introduce FIRST to students and revitalize the team with the support of P&G once again. After registering with FIRST he mentioned that the program would be offered to Northwest High School students in addition to Colerain students. This allowed the team to regain its original number of 144 instead of registering as a new rookie team number that would have been around 3700 or so. It was also fitting that with the team's revival that it would require new team branding. By 2011 FIRST had shifted the team name and number to be affiliated with the school rather than the sponsors like it was back in the 90's. Since the name and number was to be tied to the school then the team decided on The Robotics Organization of Cardinals & Knights, The R.O.C.K., because it combined the school mascots of both Colerain and Northwest High Schools. 

Operation Orange       2024-Present

In the fall of 2023 lead mentor, Ray Frank, was relocated to Butler Tech's main campus to sustain the engineering program at D Russell Lee. He brought along FRC team 144 with him and decided to bring back the original Hall of Fame name Operation Orange. The rebranding better represented the student body as it will no longer only consist of Northwest and Colerain high school students. The program's new location will provide an opportunity for Butler Tech's 13 Associate School districts to participate. In addition to being apart of Butler Tech's Orange Academy. The branding also falls on the 30 year anniversary.