Teamwork is key to Robotics success

Friends Academy’s Upper School Robotics Club meets three times a week to build and program their robot. The club runs as a team, practicing and collaborating after school – sometimes into the late evening. “All in all, it's a team effort and that includes our builders, coders, leaders, and drivers – we could not do it without one of these important groups,” said club advisor and Upper School Computer Science teacher Pati Castillo. “We started our robot in April of last year and even now we take out ideas and start over to improve it. No matter what the situation, the students are always positive and supportive.”

That teamwork paid off and illuminated one of Friends Academy's key values of Cultivating Community. In a recent VEX competition at Rye Country Day School, the team finished in 10th place overall among a competitor field of almost 20 teams – their best finish yet this year!

One division down, the Middle School Robotics team is pulling in accolades and headed to States! In mid-January, the team competed in their first tournament of the season. “All teams performed well,” reported advisor Clare Nesfield. Two teams are headed for the State Championship, including the 8th-grade team of Sydney Wang, Maggie Ma, Sharon Chen, and Christina Yin, who qualified after placing 2nd in the Teamwork Challenge. The 5th-grade team of George Vrahatis and Gabe Loizides won both the Judges Award and third place in the Skills Challenge, which earned them an invitation to the State Championship.