Robotics team tunes up for upcoming season

Seven members of the Greenhills FIRST Robotics team, accompanied by three team mentors, hit the road for a practice competition Oct. 8 as they prepared for the coming season. 

The team members — Benjamin Kovacs, Lawrence Bitzer, Max Colis, Morgan Gallimore, Robert Keller, Kalea Vendola, and Patrick Quinn — headed to the center of the state to participate in the Great Lakes Bot Bash, accompanied by team mentors Tom Quinn, a Greenhills parent, and Alex Monte-Sano and Charles Dershimer, both Greenhills teachers.

The practice competition event provided a chance for new team members to become familiar with the excitement and energy of a match, and for the more seasoned players to further hone their leadership skills.

The Greenhills’ team had a very successful experience, Dershimer said, placing 12th overall during the qualifications matches, and finishing in the semifinals through a collaborative alignment with two other Michigan teams. The practice competition marked the first time the Greenhills team placed into a semifinal round at a robotics event, signaling the direction of what is sure to be a great 2016-17 season.

Beyond that, Dershimer said, the Greenhills Lawnmowers further demonstrated that they’re off to a great start by earning a coveted Gracious Professionalism award, a distinction that carries a special significance in FIRST Robotics competitions.

Greenhills earned the award for demonstrating unselfish effort to help another team repair its broken robot and, Dershimer said, in the true spirit of a FIRST Robotics “co-opertition,” the team that helped Greenhills win the award went on to defeat Greenhills in the semifinals.

“Success is measured in many ways for students at Greenhills,” Dershimer observed wryly.