John Tredrea

By: centraljersey.com
The George G. and Elizabeth G. Smith Foundation of Orchard Park, N.Y., the family foundation of Hopewell Borough residents Liza Smith Morehouse and her husband, Schuyler Morehouse, has given the F.I.R.S.T. Robotics Club of Hopewell Valley Central High School (CHS) a $9000 grant.
The grant will fund the club’s participation in a national competition, said school district spokeswoman, Alicia Waltman.
Mr. Morehouse, a longtime member of the Hopewell Borough Council, is founder of Morehouse Engineering, Inc., in Hopewell Borough. "He’s been a long-time fan of the Robotics Club at CHS, acting as a mentor and financial supporter for many years," Ms. Waltman said.
The club, which has about 30 CHS students, will compete over the next few months in the For Inspiration & Recognition of Science and Technology (F.I.R.S.T.) competition. The competition, which draws 3,000 student teams from around the United States and abroad, challenges them to build a robot to perform a specific task. This year’s robot will be required to pick up game pieces of various shapes and sizes and hang them on a rack in a particular order, and also to pick up a smaller robot and help it climb a poll and flick a switch.
"This competition is near and dear to my husband’s heart," said Ms. Morehouse. "We have given to F.I.R.S.T. teams here in Hopewell, and in other communities, for about 14 years."
CHS’ team is also supported this year by donations from Bristol-Myers Squibb and the Hopewell Valley Education Foundation.
CHS students – advised by CHS teachers John Delaney and Erik Tornegard, longtime mentor Ed Petrillo, who is a retired chemist, and other community volunteers – will start building their robot this week and complete it by the deadline of Feb. 22. They will then compete in at least two regional competitions, one in Trenton, and one further afield, most likely in Washington, D.C.
At the competitions, the CHS robot will compete on a team (called an "alliance") with two other robots. Victorious robot alliances, and their creators, advance to the F.I.R.S.T. championships in St. Louis, Mo., at the end of April.
Chris Hepburn, senior and co-captain of the CHS team, will be competing for his third year. He has applied for a F.I.R.S.T. scholarship for full tuition to attend Northeastern University, in Boston, Mass., where he plans to study mechanical engineering.
"I’ll come in here after school and stay for hours," said Chris of his devotion to the club and its project. "We have all the tools we need, and I can come in here and just build stuff. I love it."
The CHS team will compete in the New Jersey Regionals in Trenton from March 3-5.
For more information about F.I.R.S.T., go to www.usfirst.org.