Team Kickoff
Written by Emily Spoldi on October 23, 2007
On October 24, Team 230 brought together all team members, both returning and rookie, as well as their parents for the official team kickoff meeting.
Team advisor and SHS Physics teacher Louis Schmecker began by introducing the important adults on the team, from fellow teachers to mentors that dedicate their time to help the team. Many of these mentors are parents of past and present team members.
During the presentation, Mr. Schmecker spoke about the ideals of the FIRST Robotics Competition as well as the events for the upcoming season. The team plans to attend three competitions during 2008, including the Connecticut Regional, which takes place in Hartford. In addition, the team hopes to attend the Boston Regional, but are currently on a waiting list. Despite this, the team is optimistic that they will be attending. The final competition the Gaelhawks plan to attend during the upcoming year is the FIRST Robotics Competition Championship in Atlanta, Georgia. With 300 teams attending, it is a memorable experience to watch, much less participate in.
Another topic of discussion was fundraising. Parents were informed of the many corporate sponsors which support our team, including our major sponsors of Sikorsky Aircraft and Pitney Bowes. Everyone was encouraged to seek out additional sponsorship, however large or small. Mrs. Barnstien, another team parent, spoke about the upcoming Dinner and Auction. She stressed that it is the team?s major fund raiser. The dinner is scheduled to be held December 7. Each team member was given 10 tickets to sell to ensure a successful event. The team also planned which areas of Shelton each person would go to in order to gain donations for the various raffles and auctions that occur at the Dinner and Auction.
Once the 'business' was concluded, everyone shared coffee, juice, and donuts while past team members reminisced about past seasons and new team members expressed hopes for the coming ones.
