RoboRaiders Win at First Tech Challenge

The Robotics Club began around four years ago when a group of passionate students who were interested in creating robots decided to start their own club. Advised by SHS’s STEAM educator Brian McDonald, the extracurricular features four different branches and focuses (programming, engineering, logistics, and outreach) so that even students who are not well-versed in computer science can become an integral part of the activities.

This year, SHS’s robotics team, the RoboRaiders, participated in the First Tech Challenge, a competition hosted by a nonprofit organization where robots had to tackle prospective challenges before a panel of judges. After the judges evaluated each teams’ performance against over twenty other high schools, the team of fifteen students from SHS was awarded with a total of three prestigious awards: 1st place for the Inspire Award, 1st place for the Motivate Award, and 3rd place for the Collins Aerospace Innovate Award.

Moving forward, Outreach Director Courtney Guastafeste ’21 hopes to spread the club’s influence so that more students can have the opportunity to problem-solve in an increasingly technological world. “In terms of outreach, our goal is to reach out to more elementary schools,” said Guastafeste, who hopes to begin by influencing younger generations and encouraging them to develop a passion for robotics. To increase robotics’ impact on students at the high school, Guastafeste and countless other students have also designed posters, shirts, and advertisements. Hopefully, the club can continue with its amazing performance in the future.

For more information about Scarsdale’s Robo Raiders or what you can do to help the team, visit the Robotics webpage: ROBORAIDERS