Southampton students showcase FIRST Robotics ‘Marinators,’ propose elementary outreach

Students from Southampton High School’s FIRST Robotics team, the Marinators, presented to the board and described their second-year progress, recent competition experience and plans to expand outreach to younger students.

A presenter who introduced the team praised student work and named mentors and students involved. The presenter highlighted a student project in which team members developed a prosthetic for a dog at the animal shelter; the presenter said the dog has since been adopted. "We are so extremely proud," the presenter said.

Student speakers described founding the district's first FIRST Robotics team last year and competing at a recent event at Hofstra. One student described the team as a second-year group that has been adopting advanced techniques despite less experience than longer-established teams, saying, "We are a second year team, so we are not as experienced as some 30, 20 year old teams. But we did manage to get very advanced techniques in our robot this year." Students also asked the board and audience to view a short video explaining the competition's rules.

Team members proposed expanding robotics outreach to the elementary school by adding a FIRST Lego League program to build early interest in engineering and create mentor opportunities, and noted mentoring would help younger students develop engineering skills. The presentation concluded with a demonstration and explanation of the robot's features and mission elements.

The board did not take any formal action on the presentation during the portion of the transcript provided.