Middle Township School District chosen to receive Argosy Tool and Equipment Foundation’s grant as a result of being a FIRST Mid-Atlantic FRC rookie team.
Robotics Club students working on a project in Middle Township High School’s Robotics Manufacturing Classroom
Cape May Court House – Middle Township High School (MTHS) was chosen to receive the Argosy Tool and Equipment Foundation Grant through their participation with the FIRST Mid-Atlantic Robotics program. The grant provides almost $5,000 worth of physical tools to help the MTHS robotics team enhance their skills in building robots and other devices.
MTHS became involved with FIRST Mid-Atlantic this year after students and staff expressed interest in similar programs. The school will be participating in their first-ever robotics competition with advisors John Richardson and Chris Castor supporting the rookie team.
FIRST Mid-Atlantic began in October 2010 with the encouragement of FIRST, Manchester, NH, a global robotics community preparing students for the future as the world’s leading youth-serving nonprofit advancing STEM education. Their mission is to promote and implement FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) programs for the benefit of all FRC teams in the region which spans all of Delaware, New Jersey, and counties in Pennsylvania from Harrisburg eastward. They are a New Jersey Non-Profit Corporation with IRS 501(c)(3) exemption as a charitable organization.
“We’re honored to be receiving this grant and continue to see our robotics programs grow,” said MTSD superintendent Dr. Dave Salvo. “We’ve been working on building our robotics department. It’s amazing to see students and teachers alike take on the role of molding and developing these programs. I’ve seen so many students really step in and take the initiative to help move things forward.”
FIRST Mid-Atlantic Robotics received a financial grant to purchase tools for new rookie FRC teams within the district. In an official email, FIRST Mid-Atlantic officials expressed that this grant will help students build and maintain their robot alongside 126 other FIRST Mid-Atlantic teams within the district. The tools will enable students at MTHS to gain experiences in the robotics field and afford them a remarkable opportunity for years to come.
The MTHS robotics team is one of six rookie teams within the district. They will compete against 35 other teams in the FIRST Mid-Atlantic Robotics Competition on Saturday, March 25, in Tabernacle, New Jersey. There will be 12 rounds in this competition. MTHS will compete again the first week of April in Bensalem, PA, with hopes of making it to the district championship also held in April. The contestants will be judged by numerous elements such as coopetition, knowledge of robotics, professionalism, engineering, safety, quality and much more.