This past Sunday, February 25th, Tenafly High School’s Robotics team performed phenomenally at the FTC Northern League Tournament at Emerson Jr./Sr. High School.
The Robotics team—which includes Harrison Wong, Noah Jackson, Yuval Amitai, Adir Shtalryd, William Hsu, and Mark Dugyik—placed first out of 20 teams in the qualifying matches of the tournament. The team also won a first place Inspire award. Under the leadership of senior Kai Song, the team has come extremely far in its mere three years of its activity at THS. It was due to the culmination of the team’s efforts and their determination to succeed that they made it this far in such a short amount of time.
The journey to qualification for the NJ State FTC Championships is no small feat. For the past three of the club’s seasons, everyone involved has devoted months of hard work, dedication, and countless hours of brainstorming, designing, and testing. What’s even more impressive is that during all this time the club members have been under pressure to catch up with other veteran teams who have been a part of the competition for many seasons already. “It was definitely not an easy journey,” Noah Jackson, one of the leaders of the Robotics club, said. “We would often spend several hours after school twice or three times a week to design the chassi or adjust it to fit this year’s theme for the competition.” The Robotics team approached each setback with resilience and a willingness to learn, ultimately emerging stronger and more determined than ever before.
At the heart of the team’s success lies its superior collaboration and connection with one another. Robotics is not just about building the robot and fine-tuning it for competitions; it’s about working together to overcome a multitude of different challenges and debugging to success.
“Since last year, the Robotics club has been getting more and more people ready to pursue their interest in engineering and robotics,” Mr. Hubbard, the advisor for the club, said.
An increase in the number of students showing their passion for robotics proves to be significantly conducive to the development of the club. “Even after the current upperclassmen leave, I am confident that THS’s robotics club will continue to thrive just by how many people are already joining and involved in the club,” Yuval Amitai, another experienced member of the club, said.
Looking ahead to the NJ State FTC Championships, the team is gearing up for its biggest challenge yet. With their sights set on victory, the members are leaving no stone unturned in their quest to drop another fantastic performance. “Win or lose, the experience of competing at the state level is simply amazing! It gives the team an opportunity to show what they can do on a big stage and learn from the best,” Jackson added. “Who knows? Maybe we might even qualify for Worlds?!”
Whatever the outcome, one thing is certain: the future is bright for the Tenafly High School Robotics Team, and their journey is only the beginning.
