FA Robotics Earns Spot at the VEX World Championships

Fryeburg Academy is pleased to announce that its robotics team named 20005B "Free Cheese" earned a coveted spot at the VEX World Championships, which will be held in Dallas, Texas, on April 25-27th.
The team finished the qualification matches at States undefeated and in first place, earning them the number one seed in the final bracket out of 48 teams. "We took first place in the Skills Competition, which combines driver skills and autonomous programming skills," says David Sartory, FA's technology instructor and robotics coach. "Our first-place position in the tournament also was the highest season score in all Maine rankings, ultimately earning the team's space at Worlds."

The inception of FA's robotics club was formed during the 2017-18 academic year and primarily student-led by the Academy's first Ukraine Global Scholar (UGS), Tonia Zakorchemna '19. Six years later, another UGS student, senior and team captain  Yeo Bondar, took the team to Worlds for the first time this year. "We began in an unused dorm room with two students and have grown to include around eight competition team members and another six club members each year," continues Sartory. "Since that year, we've expanded multiple times and now have a beautiful full-time lab adjacent to the computer lab. The students built it, and it reflects them in every way. It's truly their space, and they have earned the school's trust by handling the gear and the space well."

When asked what skill set the team employed to yield such a successful outcome, Sartory states the team is well known for being a great alliance partner. "The entire VRC program relies on effective use of mostly random partnerships, and our 20005B is helpful, cooperative, and fun to work with," continues Sartory. "Their well-deserved Sportsmanship Award,  chosen by a team of judges who spend the day watching the tournament and interactions between teams, is further proof. In addition, this team really took the challenge seriously and, partway through the season, realized that they could be more effective by ignoring one of the larger aspects of the game (shooting discs) and focusing more on fast and accurate movement and a powerful endgame, allowing a partner more time to focus on discs. This strategy paid off repeatedly."

As for the team's goals for the future, their immediate goals are to prepare for the upcoming VEX World's Championship in April and recruit more students to join the club. "The team is planning a complete rebuild, focusing on improving anything that broke, failed, bent, or otherwise surprised them during the regular season,” concludes Sartory. "I feel we have reached a great spot in our growth, but I'd love to see more of the teams reach three to four more students each, which is when dividing the work gets truly interesting. We're attempting to reach out to more students who don't realize their skills are needed and valuable on a robotics team. Everyone assumes you need to want to build robots, and obviously, that's a part of it, but the reality is so much more interesting. We need artists, designers, planners, people who love organizing, athletes who understand competition and strategy, coders, scouts, and researchers. I'm hoping we can use some of this momentum to get more kids involved in the less-obvious parts of the program."
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List of 5 news stories.

  • Fryeburg Academy Fall 2023-24 Honors/High Honors Roll Recipients Named

    We are pleased to announce the following students who have earned academic recognition at Fryeburg Academy for the Fall of 2023-24:

    HONORS
    Grade 12: (Honors)
    Charlotte Adamus
    Vittoria Bernardini
    Natalie Berry
    Dom Bond
    Jordin Booker
    Owen Burford
    Tori Butters
    Jilyan Byrne
    Lorenzo Catana Vallemani
    Jonah Densmore
    Vitoria Do Espirito Santo Teixeira
    Elle Dooley
    Austin Dorner
    Deniz Eroglu
    Manu Fandos Martinez
    Aidan Flanigan
    Amber Gagnon
    Mia Grandchamp
    Gal Hanan
    Emily Hoosier
    Noah Jacobs
    Emma Keaten
    David Kim
    Joey Kim
    Kardelen Lacinok
    Helena Landry
    Margherita Lassini
    Leo Lee
    Celine Lee
    Ana Maillett
    Moss Marques
    Caroline Masterman
    Asher McKenney
    Ryan Meade
    Natalia Millan Arenas
    Mina Milosevic
    Tommy Morini
    Tasia Nason
    Rachel Pizzo
    Grace Porcaro
    Abby Pratt
    Ashe Rabideau
    Winter Raymond
    Dustin Rhoda
    Gideon Richard
    Leah Rokes
    Margherita Rossi
    Gunnar Saunders
    Louie Shin
    Lamar Smith
    Hunter Tripp
    Tanner Tripp
    Gabby Udoto
    Logan Walton
    Kara Willette
    Connor Williams
    Mary Wing
    Kevin Zhou
  • Academy Students Earn Silver and Bronze at the National FFA Convention

    From October 31 through November 3, five members of the Academy's FFA Chapter (Future Farmers of America) and faculty member Jennifer Solter Jones attended the National FFA Convention held in Indianapolis, Indiana. 
  • FA's Falls Sports Assembly Honors Student-Athletes

    On Thursday, November 16th, Fryeburg Academy celebrated the fall sports season with its annual fall sports awards assembly held in the Leura Hill Eastman Performing Arts Center. The following student-athletes were recognized for their outstanding performance during the fall 2023-24 season:
     
  • Joseph R. Manning Installed as the Academy's 55th Head of School

    Fryeburg Academy and the Board of Trustees announce the installation of Joseph R. Manning as the Academy’s 55th head of school. The Installation Ceremony was held on Friday, November 3, 2023, with members of the Fryeburg Academy community, the Board of Trustees, and former head of school Erin P. Mayo in attendance as a guest speaker. Manning steps into this new leadership role during the school’s 232nd year, following a long-tenured and successful career at the Academy spanning twenty years of service. 
  • FA Students Earn Letters of Commendation in the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program

    Fryeburg Academy seniors Tyler Bartick and Jiwon Choi have earned Letters of Commendation from the National Merit Scholarship Program (NMSC) for their performance on the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®).

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