Mason Decker, Alan Raitt and Sawyer Giles (Team MAS) were the winners of the first robotics club BattleBots competition contested before peers and staff in the high school gymnasium during community lunch on May 29.
“It feels great to come back and win,” said Decker. “I was honestly a little worried. We were behind for a lot of it, but we were able to get back there at the end.”
The club received a grant from the Rhinebeck Science Foundation to purchase the robots. There were four teams competing, starting with a semifinal round before a third-place battle and championship final.
“As a first event, it was successful,” said Raitt. I hope it helps get more people to the club so that it could continue. We had loads of fun building the robot. We had design debates and questions, so it was really fun to choose how to build a robot.”
Raitt added, “It’s really hard to get into robotics. You need a lot of equipment and time, and I think this club has provided us with equipment and time to really get into it.”
The three members of the winning team will continue to problem-solve in college as Raitt plans to pursue a career in robotics at the University of Southern California; Giles is planning to study engineering at the University of Maryland, and Decker is heading to the University of Chicago to study mathematics.
“Part of the reason I love math so much is sometimes you end up with the wrong answer and you have to go back to look at all the stuff you did and try and find where you went wrong,” said Decker. “I think that’s truly an ability to have a skill you need to develop.”
The robotics club was founded by four sophomores -- Kaia Rouse, Ellie Firestone, Beatrice Macdonald and Zsuzsanna Moore – during the 2023-2024 school year. The students, now seniors, worked together to put together a proposal to start the club.
“It was a very difficult process,” said Macdonald. “There were a lot of ups and downs, and a lot of barriers.
“It’s always nice to see the hard work you put in to get past that has come to fruition and made something that will last longer than you are here at this school. It’s been great and just a really good feeling. I hope to come back and see what everyone is up to in a couple of years.”