Pascack Pi-oneers [Team 1676]

Looking for an exciting new task for the Engineering Club after the previous competition became defunct, senior Matt Hayon of Pascack Valley, class of 2005, stumbled upon US FIRST. After a lot of work, the Pascack Valley Regional High School District became a part of FIRST as Team 1676. Matt, Coach Phil Paspalas, and the team of 30 students from Pascack Hills and Pascack Valley, went to the New Jersey Regional and won the Rookie All-Star award in 2005. As a result, the team went to Atlanta, Georgia for the 2005 World Championship, where they competed as part of the Archimedes Division.

Team 1676’s major sponsor of our rookie year was Mercedes-Benz, who contributed financially and with mentors. In 2006, we acquired a new platinum sponsor, Dassault Falcon Jet. In 2007, we welcomed two new platinum sponsors, KPMG and the Pascack Valley Regional High School District. Although Mercedes-Benz had to withdraw their monetary support in 2007, we would like to thank them for their continued mentor support. In 2008, Honeywell, Inc. became our newest platinum sponsor.

In 2007, the team had a very successful year! Our new VEX team won the State Championship. At the New Jersey Regional, the team was awarded The Website Award, The Motorola Quality Award, and the Johnson & Johnson Sportsmanship Award. That year, the team was seeded 3rd and was a semi-finalist. At the Buckeye Regional, the team was awarded The Motorola Quality Award and was seeded 11th. Also in that year, our team established their well-known scouting database.

In the fall of 2008, we continued our highly successful Pi-Tech Academy, a comprehensive training program aimed at introducing rookies to the vital skills they will need to contribute to the team. The skills taught include the basics of programming, pneumatics, drive systems, electrical, animation, and 3-D modeling. The programs were led by teachers, mentors, and veterans. At the 2008 New Jersey Regional, the team was awarded the Chairman’s Award! We also won the Chrysler Team Spirit Award at the Greater Toronto Regional. At the FIRST World Championship, we placed 18th out of 86 teams.

In 2009, we hosted our own off-season event, Pascack Panda-monium, which was very successful; it brought 17 teams together for a day of competition. This event was covered by the local regional newspaper, as well as 1010 WINS radio. At the Palmetto Regional, we were awarded the Chairman’s Award for our 2nd year in a row! We also won the Judge’s Award for Engineering and 2nd place for the Autodesk Inventor Award. At the FIRST World Championship, we placed 35/86 in the Galileo Division.

Team 1676 has grown by leaps and bounds. Having doubled our size, more than tripled our funding, and doubling the number of regionals we attend each year (for 2010, New Jersey and Virginia), Team 1676 hopes to carve a permanent niche in the FIRST community.