Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School

215 Fitchburg Street

Marlborough, MA 01752

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Cindy Zomar

(508) 485-9430, ext. 250

pr@assabet.org

FIRST Robotics in Full Swing!

Marlborough. The FIRST robotics team, the AZTECHS 157, began their 2008 season with a kick-off for students, parents, staff, and volunteer mentors in the lecture hall on Sunday, January 6^th. These team members will have just six weeks to conceptualize, design, build, program, and learn to drive a remote-controlled robot before shipping it off to its initial competition in Hartford, CT. This year’s game involves a race track, giant 44 inch balls, an overhead track, and, of course, a period using intense programming skills and remote sensors! As of this printing, the creative juices are flowing on Tuesday evenings, Thursday afternoons, and all day Saturdays as the team continues to brainstorm, prototype, and build this year’s entry.

Both EMC and Intel are currently major sponsors of the AZTECHS. Cindy Zomar, Corporate Liaison, is busy writing grants and making requests of local businesses for additional funding. Anyone interested in volunteering with the project as a mentor or ready to contribute to the fund should contact Zomar at 508-485-9430, ext. 250.

Last year the team competed in Manchester, NH, Hartford, CT, and Orlando, FL, and brought home the Judge’s Award from both Florida and Hartford! While the students thoroughly enjoy the competitive nature of the program, the mentors all agree that the real fun is watching the students get excited about careers in math, science, engineering and technology, and learn the valuable real-world skills of teamwork, communication, quality workmanship and time management. An interesting side note is the number of Assabet Valley recent graduates that come back to mentor their younger counterparts! Once an AZTECH, apparently always an AZTECH! These hard working students are just one more example of the value of a technical education!

Sean and Ryan Horman, both Assabet Valley graduates from Marlborough, (2007 and 2002, respectively) watch intently as this year's FIRST robotics challenge is revealed.

A large group of students, staff, graduates, and adult mentors gathered at Assabet Valley as the FIRST robotics season got under way for 2008.