Seaford HS Engineering/Robotics Club Wins Two Awards at Tourney

Members of Seaford High School’s new Engineering/Robotics Club experienced the thrill of victory when they won two prestigious awards at the 14th Annual Long Island Regional FIRST Robotics competition held at Hofstra University’s David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex on April 4-6. FIRST stands for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.”

Competing for the first time, the team won the Rookie Highest Seed Award for achieving a ranking of 15 out of 50, seven places higher than the next rookie team. The team also earned the Rookie All-Star Award and $1000 for overall presentation, performance, safety, knowledge and management. This award qualifies them to advance to the national competition in St. Louis, April 24–27.

The team worked tirelessly over six weeks to create a robot that throws a flying disc into a goal both independently and with human interaction. This year's competition, called Ultimate Ascent, consisted of 48 Long Island teams with three robots at a time competing to score as many discs into their goals as they can during a two-minute and fifteen-second match.

Judges praised and encouraged the team. “I’ve been doing this for a long time and very few rookie teams get it like you do” said one, while another added, “Stick with it, you’re amazing.”

According School-to-Career Coordinator and club advisor Lauren Thompsen, the team members are an eclectic group, ranging in academic and technical levels.

“They worked beautifully together to collaborate, analyze and creatively problem-solve to develop a viable robot and present it at the competition.”
“It is incredible how far the team has come,” said Technology teacher and club advisor Nick Isgro. “They didn’t seem like a rookie team; they were very professional.”

Elena Alberti, a 10th grader who is vice president of community relations for the team, added, “We are all really grateful for this opportunity. We learned how to deal with adversity and challenges that we will have to face in real life. We are also thankful to our faithful sponsors. We could not have done it without them.”

For more information on the Engineering/Robotics Club please visit www.seaford.k12.ny.us/Page/3437.