On March 3rd at the Excelsior Region Championship, Saratoga County 4-H FTC ROBOTICS Team #6955 “Robovines” won their way to the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Championship. The event will take place April 16 – April 21, 2024, in Houston, Texas. The team ended the qualifying matches undefeated. In the awards portion of the day, the team was awarded 2nd Place for the Inspire Award, as well as 1st Place for the Motivate Award. With these awards, they became one of the three teams to advance to the 2024 FIRST®Championship!
“Our teammate, Norah, was selected as one of three Dean’s List finalists picked from the pool of nearly 40 nominations for our region! This award highlights the amazing leadership and dedication Norah displays as a programmer, drive coach, and member of our media team.”
The Robovines are made up of ten 4-H members ranging from 7th to 12th grade and from five different schools: Henry LaBarge and Owen Fleury, Ballston Spa; Ethan Stone, Alex Sargent and Corin Gordon, Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake, Norah Hoke and Christian Bradley, Saratoga Springs, Ethan Thomas and Grady Thomas, King School; and Rohan Huskie, home-schooled. Not only are these youth part of the Robovines team; they also run the entire Saratoga County 4-H countywide robotics program for youth ages 5 to 14.
The Inspire Award is given to the team that best embodies all the FIRSTvalues. In a competition that hosted twenty-eight of the best teams in the New York Excelsior FTC Region (all of NY except NYC and Long Island), this is an exceptionally high honor.
FIRST Tech Challenge teams are challenged to design, build, program, and operate robots to compete in a head-to-head challenge in an alliance format. They work with each other and their mentors to CAD, build and program their 18” by 18” robots. FIRST Championship is a culminating, international event for our youth robotics competition season and an annual celebration of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) for our community as we prepare young people for the future.
Robovines are currently in full fundraising mode. On Saturday, March 23rd, the team will be holding a pancake breakfast at the Saratoga County 4-H Training Center at 556 Middle Line Road in Ballston Spa. The team will have their robot onsite and be giving demonstrations of how it works. For all the details go to www.robovines.org
The team needs your support to make it to Houston. Please visit www.robovines.org for ways to help. Donations are greatly appreciated and will be necessary for us to make this trip to Houston TX. Contact Greg Stevens at grs9@cornell.edu to participate and encourage these exceptional students.