As a F.I.R.S.T. alumna, I have the utmost joy in being the coach of FTC team 7890, the Space Lions. During the day I teach computer science and at night (literally, on many occasions) I coach the HM Robotics FTC program. This is my second year as the head coach of this amazing program, and it has been quite a ride from kickoff until now. Below you'll get to meet the heart and soul of 7890. Each child is incredibly talented, dedicated and have goofy memories from their time here. This team has had its fair share of stumbles, but at the end of the day we keep running with success. As they can tell you best, they are a rookie team unlike any that I have come across, which makes me evermore proud to work with them on this journey!

Hello! I'm Shrey. I am 14 years old and a freshman at Horace Mann. I started Horace Mann in 6th grade and this is my first year on FTC. I enjoy reading, watching movies, science, and sailing, and I hope to someday find an activity where I can enjoy all four at once. Computer science and electrical engineering are fields of study I am very interested in, and I like the informal learning environment FTC provides for me to soak up knowledge. Robotics is demanding but rewarding; a perfect combination of mental stimulation and a lively competition. I am on hardware and software. Other than robotics, I am part of the rocketry club and I like to do creative writing. FTC is a great way to grow and learn, and it has help me improve my teamwork and engineering abilities alike.

I’m a freshman at Horace Mann School. While on 7890, my first FTC team, I worked on hardware and design, and after the merging of 7890 and 9681, I brought my skills over to the new team. Outside robotics, I’m a theatre enthusiast and an aspiring photographer. What robotics and theatre share - what had lured me into these two contrasting fields - was this united determination. The spirit of dogged problem-solving is always present in our team, whether we’re laughing around whiteboards or frustrated at a stubborn part. I enjoy pouring over sketched ideas as much as I do attaching parts. I’m always eager to help the team as much as I can. I’ll always want to learn more about and contribute more to every aspect of an FTC competition. I’m looking forward to it and to more of this thrilling experience!

I joined Horace Mann in 2nd grade. From a very young age, I had always been fascinated with machines and moving parts, specifically in cars. As I grew older, this interest grew into a fascination of engineering as a whole. When I was in fifth grade, I used to build small things, like a separate switch for my bedside lamp, from parts I found lying around the house or from parts from old toys. I remember specifically enjoying taking my old and broken remote control helicopters and connect random wires until the rotors started spinning and then letting it fly. As I moved up into middle school, I saw my opportunity to advance my interests and knowledge of engineering by joining the robotics team. I participated in First Lego League and really enjoyed the experience. This simultaneously introduced me to coding, which I began to pursue as a hobby outside of school avidly. I joined First Tech Challenge because I believe it would be the best place to put all of my knowledge and interests to the test and, as a byproduct, develop them even more.

I joined Horace Mann in 7th grade. I was on the FLL robotics team in the middle division with many of our other team members, and it was a fun experience. That’s why I’ve joined the upper division FTC robotics team, so we can make bigger and more complex robots, out of more than just Lego. Right now, I do hardware and build the robot, and I take an engineering class outside of robotics to improve my building skills outside of the team.

I am a freshman, who is new to Horace Mann and have had no robotics experience. I joined this robotics team because I wanted to try something I don't usually do since this school has many new opportunities compared to my last one. I mainly do PR. I update our social media accounts, write the meeting logs, and update the engineering notebook. But, since I joined robotics to do experience something I’ve never done before, I also help around the workshop with hardware. Recently, I’ve been doing more hardware, but I edited the website using HTML and CSS, both languages which I am learning in a computer science class I’m taking.

I have been in Horace Mann since the sixth grade, and now am a freshman. During Middle School, I was on the school’s FLL team, the Basement Cubs. After experiencing a competition with Lego Mindstorms, I was ready to take on more difficult robotics and was eager to learn. For that reason, I joined this robotics team as a rookie and have had a very fun time since the very beginning, back in October. On this team, I am mostly involved in hardware and have helped with every part of the robot. When we started writing code, I pitched in a little help to start it up. Although I am not quite experienced enough to participate in helping to write code for the team, I am learning rigorously many languages in and outside of school so that I can become a more proficient coder and contribute more software-wise. At this point in our competition, I am really proud of what this team has been through, and the product that we have created together.I plan to continue working with robotics in the future. Outside of robotics, I am also involved with other science and engineering clubs and classes.

I’m a fourteen-year-old freshman at Horace Mann. I’ve been here since second grade and have been on two of the school’s robotics teams since sixth. I was first on Andromeda, the middle school girls’ robotics team, where I eventually became captain, and at the beginning of ninth grade I joined the rookie team 7890. Now that the two high school rookie teams have merged, I am on 9681 as part of the PR division. I enjoy robotics because we are constantly learning and growing, not only as individuals, but as a team.

I am a freshman, 14 years old, this is my first year at the Horace Mann School and my first year on a competitive robotics team. I am part of the hardware team on the HM “Sparallel” Lions 9681 this year. I love robotics because it helps me escape from all the difficulties of high school. I enjoy working with some of my closest friends in the lab after a long day of school. Though it can be stressful when competition is coming close, I value how the stress brings us together. Outside robotics, I take part in many extracurricular activities such as community service and other in-school clubs. I am part of a sports publication called, “For The Win,” and consider myself an avid sports fan. I support the Giants, Mets, and the Rangers, and myself play basketball, baseball, and football. I play for both Horace Mann and on travel teams outside of school. I hope to continue my career in robotics through future competitions and the varsity team next year.

Hello, my name is Reha. I am 14 years old and a new ninth grade student at Horace Mann. I have helped build a few components and in any other things that the team needed. I am primarily interested in programming and computer science. Outside of robotics, I like reading, biking and parliamentary debating. I was on the software section of 7890, and since the merging of teams, I have maintained the same position on the refined 9681.

I have been in Horace Mann since the Nursery division and I was on robotics (RoboCup) in Middle School. During build days I help out around the lab with hardware robot and work on PR from home. I take Computer Science 2 in school to further my understanding of code and hope to make improvements in learning Java so that next year I will be able to participate in the software of the robot. Being able to see something I contributed to actually moving and working is really amazing.

Hi, my name is Jeffrey and I joined Horace Mann in 6th grade. I was on the FLL and RoboCup team during middle school and I really enjoyed it, so I am continuing with robotics in high school with FTC. In Horace Mann, I am also on the soccer team, basketball team and tennis team. I have always had a love for robotics and computer science. In 8th grade, I took a class called Advanced Robotics which was an extracurricular class that was offered by the school for people who wanted to take robotics as a class, not just a club. In this class, we worked with robots and the basics of coding using Java. Now, in high school, I take a class called Computer Science 2 because one of my favorite things to do is code in Java, and I hope to go on and continue robotics throughout my whole high school career and get really good at it.

I came to Horace Mann this past September as a 9th grader. Before I attended Horace Mann, I went to Robert E. Bell Middle school in Chappaqua, New York. In school, I am currently taking Intro to Engineering, which is a new experience where we design and draw different mechanisms and then construct them so that they are useful and functional. On the team, I am mostly involved in hardware, and design where I apply my knowledge of building and engineering skills to improving the robot. Robotics is both an enjoyable and learning experience for me where I get to interact with peers making new acquaintances while enjoying the process (however difficult and frustrating it is). Since starting on the Robotics team, I have found a newfound appreciation for robots and the process to build and program them. Because of FTC, I am interested in pursuing a career in this field.