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Community Corner

Windham High School Robotics Team Earns Another District Title

Windham NH - Sunday, March 30, 2014 –

FRC Team 3467, The Windham Windup, of Windham High School earned another District Winner title and was awarded high honors for their community outreach at the FIRST® Robotics District competition this past weekend at Northeastern University. Their success comes on the heels of their win at the University of New Hampshire District Event in March.

The 30-member team was also honored with FIRST®’s second highest award, The Engineering Inspiration Award, which recognizes a team for inspiring respect and appreciation for engineering and technology in their community and school.

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In field competition, The Windham Windup fought hard through their qualification matches finishing with a 11-1 record and ranking 2nd out of 40 teams.

Top ranked Team 125 of Northeastern University invited Team 3467 and Hingham, MA, rookie, Team 5000, to join them as partners in “best of three” elimination matches. The alliance sailed through quarterfinals and first semifinal match but suffered a setback in the second semifinal match. Early in the match, Team 125 experienced a breakdown following an opposing robot’s hit. Referees deemed the contact illegal, giving Windham’s alliance extra “penalty points”. The extra points gave the teams a narrow win and trip to the finals.

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Following some quick repairs, the three-team alliance made easy work of the finals collecting two fast wins and emerging with the title of 2014 Northeastern District Winners.

As Windham Windup awaited the last score of the finals, the team enjoyed a special moment spontaneously breaking out in song to celebrate the birthday of Senior, Jake Matthews, the robot’s driver. “Waiting for that final score in Final 2 and just out of the blue singing Happy Birthday to Jake, it was so awesome to be with everyone and at that moment it didn't matter if we won or lost. It was the best part of the weekend,” said fellow Senior, Ryan Burgett.

“Winning the event and taking home the Engineering Inspiration award reflects back to all of the hard work everyone has put into the team in each task they do,” said adult mentor, Brendan Browne. “To all of our students, mentors, parents, & families we can't thank you enough for the hard work and dedication you put into making our team what it is! Keep up the amazing work and remember that with hard work and perseverance nothing is impossible!”

When asked about their greatest challenge going forward, student Max Del Rio said, “I think our biggest challenge now is getting enough sponsors.” The team has been continuing fundraising efforts through outreach and their website www.team3467.org.

Team 3467, The Windham Windup was able to further solidify a spot to compete at the New England District Championship at the Agganis Arena in Boston, MA on April 10-12. The Windham Windup is qualified to compete for District Winner in robot performance, the Engineering Inspiration Award, and FIRST®’s most prestigious title, Chairman's Award. The team is hoping success at District Championships will earn a spot in the FIRST® World Championships in St. Louis MO.

About The Windham Windup: FRC Team 3467 is the FIRST Robotics Competition team from Windham High School in Windham, NH. Active since October 2010, the mission of the team is to inspire students to seek careers in engineering, science, and technology. by enabling educational and entertaining partnerships with mentors who have experience and backgrounds in these fields. Major supporters include: Windham School District, Veloxion, willseal, Veolia, and BAE Systems.

About FIRST® : Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. Based in Manchester, N.H., FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, and engineering.

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