South Windsor High Robotics Team Thanks TicketNetwork for Support

If the South Windsor High FIRST robotics team completes its quest for a third national title, it will have done so with a major assist from a local business.

Indeed, TicketNetwork has stepped in to donate $1,000 to the team and, perhaps even more importantly, provided a 1,000-square-foot space at the business’ headquarters in South Windsor.

Last month, TicketNetwork Chairman Don Vaccaro presented members of the South Windsor High robotics team with a check and told the students of the importance of what they were doing.

“Our whole company is made up of mechanical or electrical engineers,” Vaccaro said. “We’re all about math and sciences.”

Vaccaro said that when he was in high school, his science project was to construct an electrical motor.

“I had to do that by myself,” Vaccaro said.

He told the students that they were fortunate to have a high school and a community like South Windsor that put so much of an emphasis on math and science programs.

“I wish communities would do more to support” programs like robotics teams, Vaccaro said.

Al Mothersele, the South Windsor High robotics team founder, thanked Vaccaro for both the monetary donation and the space.

“As important as the money is, the difference between winning in this highly competitive [tournament] is having an adequate practice space.”

South Windsor has already performed well this season and has a chance at winning at least the regional competition - scheduled for March 29 - 30 in Hartford - this year.

The team, comprising 40 students, placed second out of 19 teams at the Suffield Shakedown Robotics scrimmage on Feb. 16.

Senior Daniel Cohen said that he and several other teammates worked up to 20 hours a week on their robot, which this year was required to fling Frisbees and climb up a pyramid. The students had six weeks to build the robot before signing off on it.

Still, there is more to the robotics team than just competing and winning.

“It’s the social aspect and having friends on the team,” junior Michael Lillis said. “We hang out at meetings. The competitions are just the cherry on the top. Especially when we win.”

And South Windsor does win, having taken home two national titles in the 19 years of the program’s existence.

“It’s an awesome program,” said mentor Jesse Wilkinson, a middle school teacher who was on the South Windsor robotics team from 1996 - 99. “What’s awesome is we are taking kids who are already brilliant and guiding them to the next level. It’s rewarding. We’ve had kids go on to Yale and MIT.”