Huntington Robotics Celebrates Season at Dinner
While they fell short of their lofty goal of reaching the national championships, Huntington Robotics team members still had plenty to celebrate at their annual sponsor’s appreciation dinner.
In its second year of competition, Huntington Robotics improved to 37th place out of the 51 teams vying in the FIRST Long Island regional at Hofstra University. “I am extremely proud of the team’s showing and performance,” said senior Joseph Saginaw, Huntington’s captain. “We worked very hard to get to the place we are at today and our hard work definitely paid off as we were noticed by other teams and parents and recognized by judges.”
A crowd of about 70 turned out for the recent dinner in the high school cafeteria. Huntington Robotics honored its major sponsors, including Dr. Inna Gellerman and her staff from Gellerman Orthodontics, Rotary Club of Huntington President Greg Fitzgerald, Motorola engineer Ming Sun, Edward Parry of LuHi Summer Programs, Allstate Insurance agent Darin Reed and RMS Engineering’s Wayne Muller. Sponsors received certificates of appreciation from the team.
The team also recognized and thanked its mentors, including Tony Chiarelli, Ming Sun, Ed Parry, Dave Saginaw and Mike Ferreira. Each of the mentors was given a team sweatshirt and also presented with a scale model of the can that was used in this year’s regional robotics game. The aluminum cans were created by team vice-captain Thomas Kouttron on a metal lathe in the high school’s woodshop.
Superintendent James W. Polansky, Huntington High School Principal Carmela Leonardi and Assistant Principal Brenden Cusack, Huntington School Board President Emily Rogan and Vice-President Jennifer Hebert and Trustee Thomas DiGiacomo were among the crowd attending the dinner.
One of the highlights of the year came at the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Long Island regional when Huntington Robotics, officially known as Team 5016, earned the Industrial Design Award, which is sponsored by General Motors.
In a show of respect, Team 2638 – Great Neck South Robotics bestowed unofficial honors upon Huntington Robotics by recognizing the team for having the Best Pit at the FIRST LI regional. “With teams there that have been in existence for more than 20 years and with large annual operating budgets, we made a very strong showing,” Mr. Saginaw said about Huntington’s performance at Hofstra.
Senior Thomas Kouttron was formally recognized at the recent dinner after being voted the team MVP at the LI regional competition. “Without Tom’s skills and countless working hours, the robot would not have been built,” Mr. Saginaw said.
Freshmen John Riley and Lindsay Saginaw both earned the Rising Robot Award for the “exceptional leadership and commitment” they displayed. “Both of these team members took on large roles as freshmen and with their continued membership this team will continue to succeed,” Mr. Saginaw said.
Freshman Jessica Pulizzotto captured the Rookie Inspiration Award. The honor recognizes “the growth of a team member and their dedication to learning new skills.” Mr. Saginaw said that Ms. Pulizzotto “has become an important member of the team over this season.”
Inspired by retired Huntington technology teacher Ed Parry, who spent hours working with the team this year, the Steady Eddy Award went to junior Ben Hebert, “who is extremely committed and always gets the job done,” Mr. Saginaw added.
Team members also honored and thanked Mr. Reynolds for the enormous number of hours he committed to Huntington Robotics and his overall dedication to the group’s success. “We gave him a box of donuts with small aluminum cans because he brought lots of donuts throughout the year,” Mr. Saginaw said. The team also thanked Mr. Reynolds’ wife, Elizabeth for tolerating her husband being out of the house until late in the evening on weekdays and weekends and even vacation periods. The team presented Mrs. Reynolds with a bouquet of flowers.
Team t-shirts were sold at the dinner to help offset costs associated with the celebration. A slideshow featuring images from pre-season, build season and the actual competition at Hofstra continuously played on a large screen throughout the evening.
“The robotics dinner was a complete success,” Mr. Kouttron said. “We were able to gratefully thank our mentors, sponsors, parents and of course our advisor, Brian Reynolds.”