On the precipice of potentially no longer being a viable option for students, the robotics club at Mt. Hope High School, which fittingly competes under the moniker "Underdogs," has persevered and is …
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On the precipice of potentially no longer being a viable option for students, the robotics club at Mt. Hope High School, which fittingly competes under the moniker "Underdogs," has persevered and is seemingly on its way back to relevance thanks in large part to some dedicated alumni, counted among those its advisor/career and tech center teacher Ryan Garrity.
A 1998 MHHS graduate and a full-time instructor there since 2002, Garrity saw the district, in his words, "shift gears" to using "Project Lead the Way (PLTW)" curriculum that, he said, while keeping engineering "very much alive" it included "very little" robotics in comparison to previous course study. That, in turn, eventually led to the associated club suffering from a lack of cash and, to some extent, interest.
In fact, the competitive club, the "Underdogs" which competes in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition in Science and Technology) Tech Challenge League, is back in its current form for a second year mostly due to the generosity of area residents.
Though stipends for the advisors of all after-school sanctioned clubs are paid for by the district, Garrity noted each now needs to find their own funding sources as they are not part of the standard curriculum.
"I can't say enough about the people in the towns of Bristol and Warren," Garrity said. "They really came together to make this happen. The outpouring from people in the towns, their willingness to help along with a couple of companies has been awesome."
Garrity, who moved to Warren as a toddler with his parents, Frank and Sharon, highlighted the considerable contributions from Joe Brito, of C. Brito Construction and Family, as well as SEACorp, an engineering firm in Middletown which employs another program alum, former student and current mentor to the program Dillon Costa. Still one other of Garrity's past students, Patrick Gaudreau, serves as the club's official assistant.
How the program declined is an example of the changing aspects CTC education. The district decided to combine engineering studies, which were once its own entity, into the broader PLTW offerings. As well, several years ago Garrity opted to step away from the robotics club for a spell thinking he was leaving it in good hands only to see it, too, begin a slow descent into near obscurity.
"A lot of interest was lost. In our heyday we had four teams, then when I left it got down pretty low" Garrity said of the club's situation relatively recently. It went from some 40 students to the roster of nine currently. He's hoping renewed interest in the program could lead to a second team of students being created for the 2025-26 term.
He continued, "When I saw how everyone responded, it kind of put a spark into me. It was motivating to see how much robotics means to the community. It's been amazing. It really put a drive in me that I hadn't had in a few years. I have more pride now in being from Bristol and Warren than I ever did before because of this."
The students involved in the 2024-25 robotics club are: Dylan White, Dylan Shaw, Tyler Scarborough, Luke Domina, Luke Daniel, Kyleigh Durette, Jacob Fontes, Kyle Ascoli and MacKenzie Da Riva.
They've made the most of the faith shown in them by the community. The "Underdogs" placed third out of 20 teams in their most recent competition, a qualifying event held at Mount Saint Charles Academy for this weekend's state championships to be held at the New England Tech Auto Center in Warwick Saturday, Feb. 8.
The "Electric Quahogs" representing The Wheeler School and coached by still another MHHS alum and former Garrity classmate Dylan Ryder, finished first at the qualifier with the the "Robo Titans" from Toll Gate/Warwick second.
"The hope is not only to place, but there's different awards that you can win as we well. The one you want to win is the 'Inspire Award.' That's the most prestigious one that everybody wants to win," Garrity said of the state competition, which could lead to a spot in the "world" championship set for April in Texas.
Regardless of how the team fares the rest of the year, Garrity said he is gratified in seeing the engineering/robotics program re-emerge at the high school.
"It's still very much alive, even though they did cut it as a class, so students can join the club," Garrity said. "Not every student goes ahead and participates in a sport or another activity. I've had some students that are the captain in every sport that they play, and then I've had other students that this is actually their 'sport.' So it truly is, and it's been referred to as 'the sport of the mind.' It brings in all the different other types of coursework and all different groups of students together that you normally wouldn't see."
The efforts to fund the robotics club continue. A pasta dinner fundraiser is planned for Friday, Feb. 28, in the school cafeteria from 5-7:30 p.m. The menu includes pasta, meatballs, salad, bread, dessert and drinks. Advanced tickets are $10 each or four for $30. Tickets are $15 at the door. To purchase tickets in advance contact Kyleigh Durette at durettek27@bwrsd.org. Acceptable payments include cash or check made payable to Mt. Hope High School.
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