PEPPER PIKE, Ohio — The Orange High School robotics team captured first place in the Mahoning Valley Robotics Challenge Oct. 17 at Warren G. Harding High School in Warren.
Not only did the team, named the Flying Circuits, win the overall title in the 17-team event, it also received the award for the top offensive robot.
“It was exciting for the kids,” said Ryan McMonigle, the team’s adviser. “We have a young team overall, with only a couple seniors.
“More than half (of the team) is freshmen or sophomores. We have high expectations for the coming season.”
Organized by the Northeast Ohio FIRST Robotics Alliance, the event was the first in-person competition for Orange High School’s team since it won the FIRST Robotics Miami Valley Regional championship in February 2020.
By winning that event, the Flying Circuits had qualified for the FIRST World Championship robotics competition, which was to be held in Detroit. That event was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, as was the entire 2020-21 season.
“Last season was all virtual, so there was no competition with robots,” McMonigle said. “We had an alternative virtual challenge, but it really was not the same on so many levels.”
McMonigle, in his 11th year as the team’s adviser, said this is the largest team he’s ever had, with about 40 students. Twenty-eight of them traveled to Warren for the Mahoning Valley Robotics Challenge.
This was the final competition for the Flying Circuits’ current robot, named Hammer Head, which was built in early 2020.
“We had a lot of experience with this particular robot,” McMonigle said. “Interestingly, Hammer Head was built by all juniors and seniors who graduated, so the majority of kids on the team are new and inexperienced.
“I’m so proud of all the kids and all they learned in a relatively short period of time.”
McMonigle said from team tryouts this fall, four students were chosen to drive the robot based on their performance.
The four new drivers — juniors Halina Michener and Nathan Rice and sophomores Jack Arch and Charlie Rubsamen — all performed extremely well, McMonigle said. Nathan took over full driver responsibilities for the final matches of the event.
“Nathan was a freshman when Hammer Head was at the regional (in February 2020),” McMonigle said. “He didn’t even attend that event.”
As for other keys to the victory, McMonigle said: “We had a lot of kids there scouting the other teams to find out their strengths and weaknesses. As the top-ranked teams, we get to pick our alliance partners.”
“Of the 28 kids, only four were drivers, so the other 24 had responsibilities such as checking robots and doing maintenance and making sure all batteries are properly charged,” he said. “There are lots of details to make sure things go smoothly.
“It was a real good group of kids with positive energy who were willing to do the little things that lead to success. That was a big part of it.”
A new robot will be created for the team’s next competition in mid-March, when it travels to the Greater Pittsburgh Regional competition.
“On Jan. 8, 2022, FIRST (Robotics) will release a new challenge for the first time since January 2020,” McMonigle said. “So we will be building a new robot.”
Other team members who represented Orange High School at the Mahoning Valley competition were Nash Cook, Jacob Dvorin, James Fleming, Meredith Ford, Sarah Friedlander, Aaron Friedlander, Caden Gerckens, Griffin Ginosar, Niranjan Girish, Amelia Horvat, Logan Kaplan, Kerry Kelly, Elise Kemp, Gemma Klisovic, Giada Klisovic, Robert Lamperth, Anna Leitson, Sean Lipton, Charlie Loebl, Rafi Mendlowitz, Maddie Millett, Daniel Roberts, Ethan Vincent and Ben Wei.
In addition to robotics, McMonigle teaches computer science and engineering design at Orange High School.
Students in Moreland Hills Elementary School teacher Mary Croft’s third-grade class hold up signs promoting the “Better Together” theme as they walk the Orange Schools campus pathways in the 2021 Walkathon. From left, they are Langston Lewis, Maxwell Chen, Christopher Scott (partially hidden in back), Wesley Chagin, Victoria Thompson, Thiago Villarreal, Henry Friedman, Sylvia Goshe (partially hidden), Virginia Thompson and Asher Terchek. (Photo courtesy of Orange City Schools)
Walkathon raises over $40,000
More than $40,000 was raised in the 2021 Orange Elementary and Middle School PTA Walkathon, held Oct. 12 through Friday (Oct. 22).
Students and families from the Orange Inclusive Preschool, Moreland Hills Elementary School and Brady Middle School helped achieve these results with the highest fundraising total to date for the Walkathon — the PTA’s main fundraiser — and more than doubling the original goal of $20,000.
Proceeds from the 2021 Walkathon, themed “Better Together,” will support all of the PTA programs for the students and the classrooms, according to a news release. This link among parents, teachers and community members helps to enrich the emotional, academic and environmental experience of the children, the release stated.
OPEN to host virtual meeting
The Orange Parent Education Network (OPEN) will host its first virtual meeting of the school year from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Nov. 10.
Featured speakers from the Orange City School District will be Sheli Amato, director of gifted services and co-director of curriculum, and Karen Moore, director of student services and co-director of curriculum.
They will discuss the Orange Schools Integrated Student Service and its focus on meeting the needs of every learner, utilizing a collaborative “one-stop-shop” approach. They will also share how the district makes curriculum decisions for students at various levels of learning.
This is an opportunity for parents of students in the Orange Schools to ask questions and share feedback.
To access the meeting via Google Meet, go to meet.google.com/mfd-pkwz-tqj.
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