Bridgewater-Raritan High School Robotics Team Recognized For STEM Outreach

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Bridgewater-Raritan High School's Robotics Team 303 was recognized for its efforts to promote science, technology, engineering, and math education during a competition at Robbinsville High School on March 20 and March 21.

The students, led by adviser Jim Griffin, received the Engineering Inspiration Award.

The Engineering Inspiration Award, sponsored by SpaceX, celebrates outstanding success in advancing respect and appreciation for engineering within a team's school, organization, and community. The recognition qualified Bridgewater-Raritan's Team 303 to become a candidate to win the award at the District Championships in April.

The judges reported that Bridgewater-Raritan was a team that demonstrated a strong commitment to spreading the message of FIRST.

"Whether it is starting up FLL teams, sending STEM kits around the world, or teaching local elementary school students about engineering, they prepare the next generation for the future. No matter what the challenge, this team is sure to pass the TEST," according to the school district.

"EI is essentially the second-highest award given at any district event and recognizes the team's outreach efforts to promote STEM education in the community," said Griffin, a STEM Teacher at Bridgewater-Raritan High School.

Griffin also said Bridgewater-Raritan's Team 303 will now be one of nine teams competing for the award at the District Championships at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on April 15 to 18.

Team 303 also competed in matches during the Robbinsville event. Griffin reported that the team opened the competition with three straight wins before running into mechanical trouble.

"We started off really strong, winning our first three games, but unfortunately, our intake developed problems after that, and we were never able to get it fully working again. We finished the tournament with a 5-9 record and were picked for Alliance 6 in the playoffs, but lost both playoff matches," said Griffin.

The team is scheduled to compete next at Montgomery High School on April 1 and 12.

"Most importantly, we learned what we needed to work on for the next few weeks to get our robot ready for our second competition at Montgomery," Mr. Griffin said.