Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School Robotics Team Competes Internationally

Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School Robotics Team members include front row, from left,  Alain Richard, John Hick, Kelly Levesque, Kay-Sea Taylor, Paresh Shetty; second row, from left, Edmund Noble, Brent Perry, Colin Roos, and Matteo Neville; third row, from left,  Ellen Arteca, Kirk Lee, Shuhao Wu, Amith Reddy and Pat Foran; and top row, from left, Dan Monti, Dalton Milford and Kayla Robin.

Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School captured many honours at the FIRST Robotics Competition in Waterloo this past weekend and has now qualified to compete at the World Championships in St. Louis, Missouri from April 25 to 28, 2012. The competition, which brings together more than 250,000 students from 23 countries, is a showcase For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST).

High-school students team up with the world’s best technology companies to design, build and program impressive robots from scratch. They have six weeks to finish the task. The 5-foot tall, 120 pound robots perform prescribed tasks against each other, in high intensity robo-sports. The events combine the excitement of sport with the rigors of science and technology, exposing students to real-world engineering. Volunteer professional mentors lend their time and talents to guide each team.

Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School, under the guidance of Hatch, garnered numerous awards with Robot 4069, including the Rookie All-Star Award, the Highest Rookie Seed Award and the Coopertition Award. The team is now off to a second regional competition in Toronto this weekend, where team members will have an opportunity to hone their skills in preparation for the finals.

“Rainbow District School Board congratulates Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School and extends best wishes to the entire Robotics Team as it gets ready to compete among the best in the world,” said Board Chair Doreen Dewar. “We commend the students, their teachers, their mentors and the star of the show – Robot 4069 – which is a tribute to their initiative and innovation.”

“We are proud of our students and their mentors for their outstanding showing on a provincial level,” said Principal Craig Runciman. “Under the leadership of teacher Dan Monti, they achieved impressive results in a very short period of time, demonstrating skill, knowledge, co-operation and creativity.”

“Our success would not have been possible without our sponsors who believed in us and provided financial and mentorship support,” said teacher Dan Monti. “We welcome the opportunity to promote Rainbow Schools at local, national and international levels with the support of our sponsors.”

The team thanks Platinum Sponsor Hatch; Gold Sponsors FIRST, Xstrata, Laurentian Business Products and the Province of Ontario; Silver Sponsors Canadian Space Agency and Fastenal; and Bronze Sponsors Professional Engineers of Ontario, Laurentian University, the Canadian Institute of Mining and Ionic Engineering Limited.

At the recent competition in Waterloo, the Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School robot competed in 11 different qualification matches with a basketball-themed event. Lo-Ellen Park was the highest ranked team in the ‘Rebound Rumble’ for its ability to balance a bridge with two robots.

Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School ranked 12 of 30 teams after the qualification rounds in Waterloo. “This is a very strong showing for a rookie team competing against a high calibre of veterans,” said Monti.  “Many teams have participated in this event for over 10 years and have 50 or more students and mentors.” 

For the elimination round, Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School was selected in the second round to play with teams from Sault Ste. Marie and North Bay. “This is the first time in history that three schools from Northern Ontario competed together,” said Monti. “After a valiant effort, our ‘Northern Alliance’ lost to the eventual finalists. But we came home with many awards and look forward to upcoming competitions. We are energized and ready to go!”

The Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School Robotics Team includes students Nyle Anderson, Ellen Arteca, Cayden Cole, Sierra Gagnon, Cody Hartwick, John Hick, Zack Ireland, Kirk Lee, Dalton Milford, Matteo Neville, Edmund Noble, Evan Nurmikivi, Tarak Patel, Amith Reddy, Colin Roos, Jacob Smith, Joshua Storey, Emily Warner, Xavier Wong and Shuhao Wu (Team Captain); teacher mentors Giancarlo Chiarot, Pat Foran, Rob Gruhl, Fiona Lawrence and Dan Monti; and engineering mentors, Alain Richard of Bestech, Kayla Robin of Vale, Kay-Sea Taylor of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine as well as Jason Jain, Brent Perry, Hinkel Yeung, Kelly Levesque and Paresh Shetty of Hatch.

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Media Contact:

Craig Runciman, Principal, Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School,
Rainbow District School Board, 705-522-2320.