YOUTH ON THE GO
A team of four Ulster BOCES Advanced Robotics & Engineering students earned a championship trophy at the 2016 New York Tech Valley Robot Rumble Off-Season robotics competition at Ballston Spa on Nov. 5.
This was the first time the Ulster BOCES students competed in such a competition. The team consisted of students Cody Heller of New Paltz High School, along with Joshua McCormick, Nicholas Dennis and Christopher Backus, all of Saugerties High School. They faced off against 23 other teams from New York and Connecticut.
As an off-season competition, the event was structured differently than other season challenges. Typically, a team begins with an unassembled robot, which they first must build. Since the school year is still in its beginning stages, this competition did not have the robotbuild component and focused more on the teams’ ability to control a unit through the various challenges.
The new Ulster BOCES team does not yet have its own robot, but was able to participate using a unit borrowed from Shenendehowa High School.
The contest rules included strict guidelines designed to hone problem-solving and team-building skills, while also requiring students to demonstrate professionalism to perform prescribed tasks against their competitors.
The Ulster BOCES team is planning to compete in the upcoming FIRST Robotics Competition Kickoff this winter at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy.
••• Mount Marion Elementary School Student Council members challenged their classmates to “Stuff the Bucket” with nonperishable food items. The items collected with go to a local food panty and
the Backpack program for Saugerties Central Schools. The Student Council is comprised of 17 students from grades 3 through 6. Each month, the students put on various activities that benefit the school and local community. Two high school students nominated by Dutchess County BOCES — Andrew Hapeman from the Red Hook School District and Melenie Taylor from the Arlington School District — were honored as Students of the Month by the Poughkeepsie-Arlington Rotary Club at a recent luncheon at Christos Restaurant in Poughkeepsie.
Their social worker, Melissa Katz, spoke of how far both students have progressed during their time at BOCES Alternative High School. Said Eleanor Charwat, Rotary Club liaison, “These students are outstanding contributors to both their schools and their community. They really deserve this recognition.
Each student received a certificate and an opening deposit in a savings account at the T.E.G. Federal Credit Union.
The Poughkeepsie-Arlington Rotary Club meets on Thursdays at noon at Christos. For more information on Rotary, visit Rotary7210.org/ Arlington.