PARSIPPANY — eBorg Robotics team organized a free STEM Career Day at Enrich Learning, 50 Route 10 West on Friday, March 9. The Team coordinated a panel of doctors, engineers, professors, and technocrats to speak about their experiences and offer advice.

Rookie Team #12538 eBorg Robotics is a non-profit organization that participates in the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC). The goal of FTC is to ensure students develop STEM skills by designing and building robots to solve an annual challenge, learn to raise funds, and do community outreach. Each season ends with the Super-Regional and then FIRST Championship.

eBorg Robotics consists of Middle and High school students from Morris and Essex Counties. Team members include: Team Captain Kevin Mathew, Neil Mathew, Arnav Khanna, Tesia Thomas, Anish Chidella, Brain Liew, Emily Liew, Mihir Vemuri, Rahul Mehta, and Tiffany Thomas. Team Coach Amit Joglekar described the Team saying, “What powers the human hands is not just one or two fingers, but it’s the synchronized effort of all the uniquely gifted yet diverse tactile members. I believe the same is true for the power behind our Team.”

The Team had the opportunity to meet with Parsippany Mayor Michael Soriano. Eighth grader Mihir Vemuri from Central Middle School, Parsippany said, “It was an honor to meet with the Mayor who was amazed to hear about our journey. He encouraged us to continue pursuing our interest in STEM and told us to keep updating him on our journey.” Mayor Soriano praised the team and wished them luck in their upcoming competition.

On Saturday, February 24, eBorg Robotics became the Champions of the Pennsylvania FTC Championship Tournament. eBorg Robotics was part of the winning alliance, automatically qualifying the Team for the Super-Regional. eBorg Robotics was also the Team that won the most Judged Awards. The Team won the Inspire Award, which is given to the team that most embodies the goals of FTC. The judges said that eBorgs, “is spreading the word of FIRST not only across their community and their state, but also around the world. Their enthusiasm and energy propelled them to become a shining beacon of possibilities in FTC. The judges found it futile to resist them.”

The Team was also awarded the Promote Award for making the most compelling video that promotes science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Coach Amit Joglekar received an Honorable Mention for the Compass Award for all his guidance and support. The Team was awarded second place for four awards including the Motivate, Robot Design, Connect, and Think Awards. The Promotion and Outreach Manager of the Team, Emily Liew, said, “Our team does more than just build robots; we want to open doors for those with fewer resources and less exposure to STEM and that was what our Promotion video was all about!”

On Sunday, February 25, the Team participated in the New Jersey FTC Championship and won again and qualified for the Super-Regionals. However, since they had already qualified from Pennsylvania, the Team graciously offered their spot to the next winning team.

Team Captain Kevin Mathew, a junior at The Academy for Mathematics, Science and Engineering, said, “As a Rookie Team, we went through many challenges. We had to go through many iterations of our robot to perfect its design, which was an expensive endeavor. Therefore, we had to improve our marketing skills to find more sponsors. I am proud of the successes our Team has achieved.”

eBorg Robotics’ mission is to spread knowledge of STEM in their local and global communities. Some of their outreaches have been in India, Livingston and Millburn High Schools, Liberty Science Center, Greater Life Community Center in Newark, and local libraries.

Marketing Manager Tesia Thomas from Liberty Middle School said, “I am very proud of all our accomplishments during this season. A big thank you to our Grand Sponsor Enrich Learning East Hanover and our Terabyte sponsors Vertellus, Parsippany and Radiant Solutions who continuously support us. We are excited to give back to the community with our STEM Career Day and we hope that we can spark interest in STEM and Robotics to other students.”

More information about eBorgs and their progress can be found by clicking here. The Team is now preparing for the Super-Regional Championship on March 16-18, 2018 with the hopes of qualifying for the FIRST World Championship in Detroit.

PARSIPPANY — In the wake of the tragic events that occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, a grassroots movement has emerged promoting a National School Walkout on March 14, 2018. This movement has gained support from students across New Jersey and in Parsippany-Troy Hills, as well.

Student leaders at Parsippany High School and Parsippany Hills High School expressed their desire to stand with their peers from across the country on March 14. The goal of the students is to gather to honor the lives lost in Parkland school shooting and to raise their voices in a call for action to promote safety for all students in America’s schools.

At Parsippany High School the walkout was ultimately held in the auditorium due to snow. Students were given the chance to speak on gun violence, there was a moment of silence, and they watched a video of the student activists from the Parkland shooting on the walkout.

There was a 17 minute walk out to recognize the 17 lives lost at the parkland shooting

There was a high turnout and it was a positive experience for all the students attending. The experience gave the students a chance to address the issue of gun violence/mass shooting and show our solidarity.

“The walkout really did give students at my school the chance to feel heard. I feel so lucky to attend a school that keeps an open dialogue on the things that matter. While many students that attended the walkout certainly disagree on specific gun policy prescriptions, the important thing is that we all rallied behind the idea that something needs to be done. We had the chance to express how passionate we are about the issue which unites us and made the walkout a success,” said Junior Bella Rocco.

Parsippany Police was present to ensure security and to assist in closing off access to the school during this time. Visitors will not be permitted to enter the campus between 9:45 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. to provide for the safety of our students and staff.

Parsippany-Troy Hills Superintendent Dr. Barbara Sargent said “The Parsippany-Troy Hills Township School District has developed a comprehensive Strategic Plan which strives to produce students who are problem-solvers and self-directed individuals, and to help all students become adaptable, confident citizens who embody self-awareness and strong interpersonal skills, capable of responsible decision-making and managing their emotions and behaviors. Toward that end, our schools support students who wish to participate in a peaceful and organized Walkout on March 14.”

Parsippany High School students organizing the event were Caitlin Crooker, Nicole Dugan, Emma Suarez, Bethany Goordman, Fiona Celli, Tyler Becker, Amanda Stover, Sarah Dipippa, Riley Ferguson and Kenny Slaman.

This also wouldn’t have been possible without the cooperation of Principal Dr. Mulroony and the PHS staff.