Clarkstown North Robotics Team Headed to World Championships

A week ago from today, The Clarkstown North 8-BIT RAMs, aka FRC 6401, became the regional winners of FIRST Power-Up at the Hudson Valley Regional! At the 2018 First Robotics Challenge Hudson Valley Regional from March 23rd to the 25th, the RAMs battled against other robotics team for a chance to compete at the World Championships in Detroit, Michigan, from April 25th to the 28th. The robotics team was part of a 3-team alliance that swept the playoff bracket of the tournament. Led by drivers Jack Welsome and Mark Albrecht, the team finished the 12 game regular season in 16th place out of 40 teams. In the alliance selection, the robotics team was selected by the top alliance of the competition, consisting of team captain FRC 2590, aka Nemesis from Robbinsville High School, and FRC 1796, aka the RoboTigers from Queens Vocational and Technical High School. The alliance team’s undefeated playoff run secured the alliance’s invitation to the World Championships.

The 8-BIT RAMs desires to spread the message of STEM throughout the Clarkstown Central School District. Since the inception of the team in 2016, 6401 has gone on to win the Rookie All-Star Award in our first year as a robotics team. We have gained support from the Clarkstown Board of Education, Clarkstown Superintendent Mr.Cox, NY Senator Carlucci, U.S. Representative Nita Lowey, Rockland County Executive Ed Day, and North’s Principal Dr.Leonardatos. The Robotics Team also has strong support from District Parents, Teachers and Staff and Students. Everyone is still amazed by the powerhouse that is, the 8-BIT RAMs.

With spreading the message of STEM, the 8-BIT RAMs also seeks to spread the message of FIRST. FIRST aim is “to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering, and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership,”. North’s robotics utilizes the ideas of FIRST to redefine the stereotype of a robotics team. North, rather the Clarkstown School District has had its fair share of robotics clubs involved in VEX Robotics, but there isn’t much support revolving around the VEX program. FIRST not only offers a fresh take on the robotics program, it also does not set a requirement for students to be interested in engineering. Rather, the robotics team also requires the success of students involved in our fundraising, marketing, outreach, and artistic activities of the team. The robotics teams encourages all students to be involved on the robotics team, and the team seeks to make the FIRST experience for all of its members.

Besides taking care of business at home base, the robotics team also has expanded our outreach programs throughout the school. Since our inception, we have helped to spur a robotics revolution in Rockland County, with the formation of FRC 6969 , aka the Orange Blinking Lights from our sister school Clarkstown South, and robotics teams from Tappan Zee and Nanuet. The Robotics team has also become extensively involved in promoting robotics in the elementary school level. We have provided elementary school teachers with Cubelets, Lego Mindstorm Kits, and LittleBits Kits for the purpose of educating young minds on basic STEM principles. We have conducted several Outreach Nights at our elementary schools. We have also began a District Wide Lego Mindstorms Teams in each of our elementary school. Elementary school students are mentored on the use of the Lego Mindstorms Kits with the help of fellow 8-BIT RAMs team members. These two events lead up to the District’s major Tech Night at our middle school. This outreach event has allowed us to showcase our robotics program at both North and South, the Lego League program, and various other Technology implementations throughout the district.

In order to further spread the growth of STEM throughout the Clarkstown Community and beyond, the robotics team needs all support it can get! The Robotics Team is in dire need of funds in order to participate in the World Championships, please donate to the Team’s GoFundMe page: gofundme.com/8bitrams.

You can also follow the robotics team on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter.

6401!