Having proven themselves in just a few short years to be worthy of the challenge, the Roboraiders competed against almost 130 teams from more than 10 countries in St. Louis from April 26-29, 2017 at the FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship.
In order to make the trip, they needed to raise the money to cover the costs for the trip. And the Red Hook community stepped up to help them achieve their target of $15,000:
- RHEF provided a grant of $2,800 to support the team.
- The Board of Education paid for the team’s $1,000 registration fee for the Championship.
- Parents, grandparents, friends, local businesses and others made contributions through the Roboraider’s gofundme page.
RHEF has supported the High School Robotics Club early in its formation:
- In 2012 with funding from the Red Hook Education Foundation and other organizations, the high school Robotics Team was started and joined the FIRST Tech Challenge Hudson Valley. The team designed, built, programmed and tested several successful robots, while learning the programming language RobotC and learning basic mechanical engineering techniques for robot design and construction.
- In 2013, a $1000 mini grant award given by the RHEF was used to purchase additional robotic supplies and equipment and to help fund registration fees for entering competitions.
- In 2015, RHEF funded the Red Hook Robotics Team with a $1,000 grant to invest in an Android-based technology platform. The new technology provides more real world skills and experience than the current Lego-based platform.
We see the Roboraiders as an example of one of the many programs that makes Red Hook Schools outstanding. We were proud to continue as a leading supporter of the Roboraiders as they took their place at this celebration of excellence — they ranked 30th out of 64 teams from around the world in their division and won the Judges Award (Higher Priorities Award).
Join us in congratulating the Roboraiders for their success at the World Championships — and consider supporting the team with a donation to help their ongoing efforts.
