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Pelham high school robotics team demonstrates robot, seeks school support and community backing for bond proposals
Summary
Students from Pelham High School’s new robotics team displayed their competition robot during public comment, described a $45,000 season budget and asked the board to support bond proposals that could provide space and staff support for robotics.
Two Pelham High School students and a parent presented the district’s newly formed Flux Robotics team during the public-comment portion of the May 7 board meeting, demonstrated the team’s competition robot and asked for support in securing school resources.
Rafe Goodyear, identified as founder and president of Flux Robotics, told the board the team was independent and “we founded it. It was just me, my mom, my dad,” and described working out of a basement with volunteer mentors. Team robot lead Lev Gorlov described hands-on learning and said the project helped him plan to study mechanical engineering in college.
Rafe’s father, Justin Goodyear, told the board the team’s budget for the season was about $45,000, with roughly $15,000–$20,000 of that going to the robot itself and the rest to tools, mentor support and operations. He said the mentor is Scott Mueller, a mechanical engineer who the team identified as working at Fermilab in Illinois; a team member corrected an earlier mistaken reference to Argonne.
The students asked the board to support the bond proposals on the May 20 ballot because additional school funding or space could allow the team to become a school-sponsored program with dedicated space and a faculty advisor. The team said it had already received community backing, including fundraising and in-kind support from local businesses; Justin Goodyear said the team had run a GoFundMe and secured several local sponsors.
Board members thanked the students and parents and congratulated the team on winning a Rookie of the Year award at an April competition. Administrators said they and the students had discussed possibilities for longer-term district support; Dr. Callahan noted the district had been exploring ways to support student activities that require space and faculty advising.
The students demonstrated robot functionality for board members during the public comment period and answered technical questions about programming (Java), power (car-type batteries) and mechanical components. The students and parent expressed interest in a future formal relationship with the school to secure space and sustain the program.
