Vernon Robotics team competes at competition

VERNON — The Vernon Township High School’s Viking Robotics Team 1989, competed with several high school teams at this year’s annual Mid-Atlantic Robotics FIRST Robotics Competiton, held at Lehigh Unierverity’s Stabler Arena.
The final rounds were intense, as high school student, Brian Hill, the driver of the robot 1989, along with students, Edward Brown, Victoria Gonzalez, Kiernan Joyce, Alyssa Koehler, Brendan O'Connell, Juliana Schlichting, and Sam Wolthoff led Vernon to finish 7th out of 60 teams. Out of 121 teams in the 3 state region, which included New Jersey, Delaware and parts of Pennsylvania, Vernon came in 25th place. This qualified the team to enter the FRC World Championship in St. Louis.
FIRST was founded in 1989 by entrepreneurial inventor Dean Kamen to inspire young people to explore the world of science and technology. FRC is a six-week competition program for high-school students to build a 120-pound robot that can complete a task using a standard set of parts, plus any additional off-the-shelf or custom parts.
The six weeks leading up to the completion were intense and grueling. In addition to building and designing the robot, the Viking Robotics, led and organized by high school teacher, Anthony Ciaburri with the assistance of mentors, Martin Pirringer and Ed Hill, marketing and fundraising for the team were also a necessity. They had to raise money to pay for their entries into the competition and court sponsors who could help mentor. Their hard work has payed off and shows their ingenuity, drive, and commitment to excellence. Being a member of the robotics team is a worthwhile endeavor for these students as it provides more scholarship money than any other club, organization, or sport.
It paves the way for new opportunities in the fields of STEAM –science, technology, engineering, art, math, and beyond.