The Middle School robotics teams recently competed in one of eight Long
Island qualifying tournaments for the FIRST Lego League and brought back
pride and two major awards. The Robo Eagles team members – Matthew
Blaising, Matteo Gravinese, Alex Grundmann, Kristian Hald, Cooper
Peterson and Jake Whitehouse – won the Project Research Award for their
innovative idea of designing and building a handicap ramp allowing
students with special needs to participate in all aspects of the
robotics competitions. The Radical Robotix team – Christian Cordova,
Sola Matsumoto, Iris Nakagawa, Allyson Opitz, Micah Santiago and Sofia
Santos – won the Project Innovative Solution Award. The project idea is a
backup rechargeable battery that will be recharged by generators hooked
up to exercise bikes in the school’s weight room, which would create
virtually free power. The idea stemmed from the loss of power at the
middle school – a designated Suffolk County Evacuation Center – during
Hurricane Sandy when backup emergency batteries for lights lasted for
only eight hours during six days without power. The Robo Eagles team
qualified for the Long Island Championship Tournament, which will be
held on March 1 at Longwood High School. The district congratulates the
students along with coach Mark Moorman and assistant coach Kelly
O’Reilly.