A team from Southington was recently recognized by the town’s school board. It’s not an ordinary team, and the recognition was a bit out of the ordinary because it was not because of a state title, or some championship that had been achieved. Instead, the accomplishment was measured in the group’s overall effort, which includes reaching out to others and supporting the community.
In those ways of measuring accomplishment, Southington High School’s CyberKnights excel. The team also almost made it all the way in a recent competition, and part of the evening with the Board of Education included a demonstration of the robot that earned placement as semifinalists in the FIRST Robotics Competition World Championship, held recently in Texas.
As described in a recent Record-Journal story, the robot is a hydraulic arm that wheels around to “pick up, drop, and throw game pieces.” The team had six weeks to put it all together, a task which entails developing, programming and assembly, and the competition draws 3,000 teams.
That is a lot of competition. The Southington robot was for a while on top but fell in the ranking because of a technical issue.
Southington is fortunate to have a school board savvy enough to recognize this, as well as the work the team does in the community, as a victory. The R-J story mentions the ways in which the CyberKnights work to make a difference. That includes partnering with nursing homes and making donations to help in Ukraine and Uganda.
“Each year we hold multiple toy, food, and clothing drives for multiple local organizations,” said Uptej Singh, a team member. The team is also successful enough to have gained 70 sponsors which, as the R-J noted, “support the team financially in additon to offering students internships and part-time positions.”
It’s a team worth recognizing. “The type of work you’re doing, the citizens you’re going to become, you’re doing us really proud here,” said Joseph Baczewski, school board vice chairman. “Thank you so much. You’re emulating what we stand for here in Southington.”
It’s well-deserved praise for a team worth supporting.