Team Beta Gives Direction and Opens Doors

A robot wound its way among the stacks of books in the library at on Monday, March 19.

Members of Team Beta attended the Region 14 Board of Education meeting and talked about the team's accomplishments since it was founded.

Team Beta engages in science and technology in the FIRST Robotics Competition, the Connecticut Electrathon Challenge -- an electric car racing team -- and outreach to the community, according to the Team Beta website.

Nonnewaug student Patrick Dunham said that in the first year, nine students participated in Team Beta. In the years to come, the numbers increased to 15, then 20, then 26, he said.

Greg Nichols of Bethlehem said his two daughters participated in Team Beta. They are now studying at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

One daughter spent time in Venice, Italy, working to preserve architectural structures that were undergoing destruction from acid rain. Next year, his other daughter will be in South Africa, helping provide better water for people in need.

"So what does this have to do with Team Beta?" he asked. "The answer is simple. It has everything to do with Team Beta."

Nichols said his daughters knew what they wanted to do in high school.

"Team Beta gives direction," he said.

Petchlada Sophon of Thailand is presently attending Nonnewaug High School and is a Team Beta member. She said not only can be she build a robot, but she can also socialize and work as a team with the other members.

Melissa Yard serves as an adult mentor for Team Beta, but is better known by her moniker -- "Mom."

"They [the students] call me 'Mom' and I cherish that," she said.

Yard acknowledged how hard the students work but said economic times are tough. The team is financed by parents and sponsors and this year, the students skipped two competitions because they could not afford to attend.

This has only made the students work harder, she said, prompting some of them to create a video to assist them in seeking sponsors.

Rose East of Oxford knows all about that 'go get 'em' spirit evident in Team Beta members. Her son is a sophomore at Nonnewaug High School and her daughter graduated last year.

Her children both had the option to go to Oxford High School but chose Nonnewaug instead. Because she is an alpaca breeder, she said her children knew they wanted to participate in the school's FFA program.

"Nonnewaug is so much more than that," said East.

Her son came home and did his homework right away so he could go back to school and work on the electric car project.

"He had passion and the most successful people in their lives are the ones that work with passion," she said.

By the end of his freshmen year in high school, East said her son knew which college he wanted to attend.

"Team Beta has influenced my family and even though we're an 'Ag family,' we're very keen on how important technology and innovation is and children need to know and need to be a part of it, because they are going to change the world," she said.