Pascack Pi-oneers [Team 1676]

Aristotle once said, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” As Team 1676, the Pascack Pi-oneers, enter their fifth season, it has become apparent that their actions have transformed into habits that repeat every season. A combination of efforts within their team, local community, and FIRST community has inspired the judges to honor the Pi-oneers with many awards, including the Chairman’s Award at the New Jersey Regional in 2008. Since winning the Chairman’s Award, Team 1676 has both continued and added to past accomplishments.

During their rookie season in 2005, Team 1676 received crucial mentorship from Teams 11, 25 and 1302; the Pi-oneers now give this assistance back to the FIRST community. Team 1676 started four FLL teams at their four local middle schools and continues to mentor them throughout the Fall. The Pi-oneers have created a path for students to follow throughout middle school and into high school. In middle school, at the start of their journey, the FLL teams are mentored by FRC members and are immersed in engineering concepts. Once in high school, they move into FRC via Pi-Tech Academy.

Pi-Tech Academy is composed of pre-season instructional sessions where students can learn more about the parts of FIRST that interest them, and are taught leadership skills and teamwork qualities. After graduating from Pi-Tech, they are full-fledged members of the FRC component of the Pi-oneers and can mentor FLL.

The Pi-oneers also offer a helping hand to any other teams in need. At the 2005 NJ Regional, Team 1676 won Rookie All-Star partially due to the aid provided to another rookie team. During the 2008 season, they mentored Team 2596 by loaning them an old robot for practice, visiting to help with mechanical issues, inviting them to see how the Pi-oneers’ meetings are run, and answering questions through daily phone calls and emails. The Pi-oneers tried to teach them not to bite off more than they could chew, a concept that took the Pi-oneers a few years to learn. They have also helped numerous teams at regionals by assembling, re-building, re-wiring, and programming robots. Team 1676 also lends parts and loans tools to other teams.

Within the FIRST community, the Pi-oneers embody gracious professionalism. In 2008 and 2009, the team was in charge of three workshops and kit distribution at the NJIT Kickoff, hosted a pre-regional practice match for local teams, and assisted in field assembly and disassembly at the NJ Regional. Last year, the Pi-oneers supplied each team participating in the NJ Regional with a “Quick Start” guide to Autodesk Inventor designed by the students on our Inventor subteam. These easy-to-follow tutorials were mailed out to teams during the build season, and the Pi-oneers, upon mailing the guides, were met with a high demand for more copies. Additionally, at every regional they attend, Team 1676 establishes a local wireless intranet scouting database. This database allows other teams to view and analyze scouting data that has been compiled match-by-match by Pi-oneer team members in the stands.

Spreading the FIRST message throughout the community is something in which the Pi-oneers take pride. Every year, the Pi-oneers are offered a booth at eighth grade orientation, Back-to-School Night, and town events such as Montvale “Day in the Park” and Hillsdale Day. The school district has also requested that the robot make appearances at the annual fashion show, where the robot is driven down the runway, and pep rallies, where the robot is demonstrated on the track. No matter what the occasion, the Pi-oneers are met with smiling faces, enthusiasm, and gasps of delight when they present their robot to the public. Through the Pi-oneers’s outreach, “FIRST fever” has spread like wildfire throughout the community, and people are inspired to get involved.

This enthusiasm translates into strong partnerships between the Pi-oneers and their district, parents, sponsors, mentors, and team members. The administrators and Board of Education of the district are some of Team 1676’s biggest supporters and fans. The superintendent has never missed a NJ Regional and promotes the team and the benefits of FIRST to other school districts. The district financially supports Team 1676 in addition to supporting it in other ways. Throughout the build season, the district allows the Pi-oneers to stay late into the night, long after everyone else has left the building; they even allow the team to meet on Sundays. The custodians have observed the team over the past four years and have exhibited enthusiasm during the build and interest in the team’s accomplishments. Visits from the custodians and other teachers are not uncommon. The Guidance Department has also been inspired by the Pi-oneers. Due to Team 1676’s support, the district now tracks career interest in engineering among graduates, and last year it was found that 15% of the graduating class pursued engineering majors – above the national average of 6%, as reported by ACT News. The Pi-oneers have helped transform their district by introducing the engineering classes to Autodesk Inventor, which is now used to teach 3D computer design.

The Pi-oneers’ accomplishments would not have been possible without support from their corporate sponsors. In 2005, Mercedes-Benz helped start the team with a generous donation. Since then, the Pi-oneers have made connections with fifteen other companies, such as Dassault Falcon Jet and the Port Authority of NY and NJ. Annually, the Pi-oneers honor their sponsors with Sponsor Appreciation Night, where team members make speeches, give demonstrations of the robot, and present sponsors with tokens of thanks. On this night, sponsors get the chance see all of the team’s accomplishments. The sponsors even get to drive the robot, which they are always excited about. The Pi-oneers also interact with their sponsors during company visits, where invitations to build season meetings and the NJ Regional are extended. Additionally, a generous gift to the team allows the Pi-oneers to annually award two $250.00 scholarships to graduating team members as well as a 50% scholarship to a rising junior to attend a robotics summer program at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. These funds, independent from the build budget, will nearly replenish themselves each year through the interest accrued while in the bank.

Just like any family, the Pi-oneers rely on parental support. Always willing to donate time, money, and home-cooked meals, the Pi-Parents are integral to the team’s success. The nightly meals allow the team to work late without going hungry, while providing a venue for team bonding. They have also held team touch football games to relieve some of the stress of the intense build season. A game simulation upon the return from Kickoff is another team building experience. This simulation requires members of the team to pretend to be robots or field elements, and is widely enjoyed by all. At the end of the season, the team has a barbeque where they honor the seniors, and hand out humorous mentor-created medals.

The Pi-oneers wouldn’t be where they are now if not for the dedication of their engineers, parents, teachers, and returning team alumni. 100% of the team graduates have gone to college and 60% major in the engineering and technology fields, a number no doubt influenced by these inspirational people. Don Rotolo, our Woodie Flowers nominee, has especially aided the Pi-oneers with his breadth of engineering knowledge. The fact that several alumni return each year to become mentors shows how the Pi-oneers have built an environment that nurtures passion in engineering.

Since winning the Chairman’s Award, the Pi-oneers have taken advantage of every opportunity to spread the message of FIRST. The team was asked to demonstrate their robot at the World Science Festival in New York City, and brought the robot to all four local middle schools. They are currently in the process of starting three new FRC teams at Bergenfield High School, the Bergen Academies, and Northern Highlands High School, and two new FTC teams at Paterson Catholic High School and Ridgewood High School. This year they recruited over 50 rookies to the team, and five more mentors, three programming and two mechanical. All four towns that feed the team presented team members with certificates of recognition for their accomplishments last season, and Montvale even declared May 1st as Pi-oneer Day. The robot was driven down the streets for the Hillsdale and River Vale Memorial Day parades, and 2008 marked the first annual Pascack Panda-monium offseason event. The Pi-oneers hosted 17 teams from the tri-state area for a day full of friendly competition and fun-filled activities such as a Super Smash Brothers tournament, a mentor pie eating contest, and a food drive. Thanks to the help of many veteran FIRST volunteers, the day was a success. The event was open to the public and covered by two local newspapers, the Bergen Record, and 1010 WINS radio had a 3-day special dedicated to the Pascack Pi-oneers.

The Pi-oneers will never stop growing. Although they were blessed with winning the Chairman’s Award in their fourth year, they only take it as a sign that they were doing things right, not that their journey is complete. Team 1676 will look for new ways to expand their program while continuing to implement their traditions, which have proven to be effective in spreading the FIRST message and inspiring younger generations.