County 4-H Team Takes Prizes at Robotics Challenge

COURT HOUSE — April 7th – 15th is National Robotics Week, and the Cape May County 4-H program has something to celebrate. A rookie team of four Cape May County 4-H kids took home first and second place trophies in two different categories at the 7th Annual Greater Philadelphia SeaPerch Challenge held at Drexel University. Competing among 600 students from middle and high school level teams, Cape May County 4-Hers Isabel Marrero (10), Mays Landing, Solomon Griffith (11), Ocean City, Luke Karavan (11), Linwood, and Gabe Marrero (12), Mays Landing, captured first place for their Team Presentation and second place for their Team Design Notebook.
The Greater Philadelphia Sea Perch Challenge engages middle and high school level students in the Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware region in robotics, science, mathematics, engineering and technology. The program serves as an introduction to naval engineering and challenges participants to build and refine a battery powered, underwater robot constructed of pvc pipe.
The event is structured to give students an overall experience in the engineering process, and includes tests of Vehicle Performance, Team Presentation, Design Notebook and Spirit & Sportsmanship. Participants must build and refine the robot, pilot the robot through a series of underwater obstacles and challenges, create a company identity and marketing plan for their design, document their research and design in a team notebook and as a team present their proposal to judges.
The students, all members of Cape May County New Jersey’s Cyber Explorers 4-H Club, received Sea Perch kits thanks to a grant sponsored by the Office of Naval Research. The Cyber Explorers completed the build in a series of workshops coordinated by volunteers at Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Cape May County.
“Each of these kids served as engineers,” explains Club Leader Julie Karavan. “Each member built their own robot; cutting pvc pipe, prepping cable and soldering circuit boards before collaborating on the best design for the challenge. Each of them stepped up and offered their gifts to their team. Club President Solomon Griffith was 100% in the challenge; creating a frame design, running cables on the deck with the robot and structuring the presentation for his team. Our pilot, Gabe Marrero, was a natural. Gabe was completely cool under pressure and pulled out a stand-out time for navigating the hoops. Luke Karavan offered lots of ideas for the team name and robot frame, focused on troubleshooting the motors and cables before the big day, took charge of the Team Design Notebook and created a professional promotional video for the Team Presentation. Isabel Marrero brought poise, precision and balance to the team. Isabel’s control box was selected to use in the challenge; she created a banner for the team and recruited her sister, Serena, to serve as our mascot. I could not be more proud of these exceptional kids.”
The club plans to celebrate their success with a pool party at Montego Bay Resort Water Park in North Wildwood.
“We owe an enormous thank you to Mike Marano at Montego Bay,” commented Acting 4-H Agent Linda Horner. “When we needed a pool for the team to practice in, Mike could not have been more hospitable. He basically said come by anytime. It’s great to know that there are local businesses that support our young people and 4-H.”
4-H Youth Development Program is part of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station and Rutgers Cooperative Extension. 4-H educational programs are offered to all youth, grades K-13, on an age-appropriate basis, without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or disability.
For more information about 4-H activities and other opportunities for youth, call our Cape May County 4-H office at (609) 465-5115, ext. 605.