Robotics Team competes this week at WPI

Groton Dunstable Robotics Team 2017 Competitions to be Held in March

Ginger Vollmar, Publicity for the GDRHS Robotics Team

The Groton Dunstable High School Robotics team, fondly known as "The Robotomies", will be participating in the 2017 FIRST Robotics “FIRST Steamworks” competitions in March. The team has been working hard and meeting almost daily for the last six weeks to design, build, program and test their robot.

After the 2017 challenge was announced, the team spent time working on a design and trying to decide which aspects of the challenge to focus on. With a good number of experienced seniors who work well independently, the team broke into groups to work on separate pieces of the robot: the base and drive train, the ball shooter, the rope climber, the gear holder, the ball hopper and the programming of the robot. The team just finished their work by the stop build date of February 21st. We are all looking forward to the competitions to see how well the robot performs.

The first competition will be held at WPI’s Harrington Auditorium on March 9th – 10th (100 Institute Rd., Worcester, MA. Thursday 8:00 – 8:00 and Friday 8:00 – 6:00). The 2nd competition will be held at Bryant University on March 25th – 26th (1150 Douglas Pike, Smithfield, RI. Saturday 8:00 – 8:00 and Sunday 8:00 – 6:00). The competitions are very exciting events and we hope to get more spectators to come out and cheer on the team this year. You can come for part of the day or the entire day. The actual schedule for the days of the competition is not known ahead of time but our team will have a number of matches during each of the days.

You can visit our web site at www.robotomies.com for more information about the Robotomies or like us on Facebook at “GD Team 1277”.

All funding for the Robotics team is privately raised. The Robotomies are thrilled to have gotten more sponsors this year. We would like to thank all of our current sponsors who provide funding for the entrance fees for the FIRST competitions and for materials. Thank you to: Justin J. Maynard Memorial STEM Innovation Scholarship; The Society for American Military Engineers; Raytheon; Ted & Connie Lapres Fund; Mercury Systems; IBM Northeast Community Grant Program; GE Oil & Gas; Solidworks; MJR Engineering Co.; Hollingsworth & Vose; L-3 Advanced Systems; Harris Corporation; Groton Dunstable Education Foundation (GDEF); the Hughson Family; the Adams Family; the Breton Family; the Battles Family; the Orlando Family; and the DiFranco Family. Additional sponsorships are always welcomed and appreciated.

If you have questions or would like to help support the Robotics team, please contact Mr. Mark Rocheleau at mrocheleau@gdrsd.org.

Poetry Out Loud

Congratulations to Jordan Sweenie who represented Groton-Dunstable Regional High School at the Central Massachusetts Regional Semifinals for the Poetry Out Loud Competition.  She competed on March 4th in Framingham against 15 other schools.

March is a busy Month at GD

Good Afternoon,

Just wanted to acknowledge some of our students efforts today.  I was fortunate to get to a couple of events this week and wanted to say how well our students represented us.

On Wednesday night our Ice Hockey team lost a heartbreaker, 3-2 in double overtime, to North Middlesex in the State Tournament.  It was an amazing game and we had tremendous fan support as well.  Great season guys.  Last night our Boys Basketball team advanced to the Regional Semifinals with a win over Westboro.  Again, tremendous game and great fan support.  The boys play again on Tuesday night in Worcester.

Looking forward, there is a lot going on.  I am sure I will miss some things but to name a few....

Girls Basketball faces Marlborough in state tournament action tonight at GD...7PM!

Our Mock Trial Team has advanced to the Regional Tournament with a win this week over perennial powerhouse, Parker Charter.  They will compete this weekend at Clark University.

Our Alpine Ski Team will compete in the States on Tuesday at Wachusett Mountain.

If you have been following winter sports you know that our Swim teams, Gymnastics team and our Indoor Track teams all had amazingly successful years as well.  Congrats on a great season.

GOOD LUCK to all this weekend and next week.

Also on the horizon......

• Our second annual Ted x event will take place next Friday night at 6pm.

• The Best Buddies Talent Show will take place on March 16th in the Black Box Theater.

• Spring Sports begin on March 20th

• ELA MCAS for Grade 10 will occur on 3/21, 3/22, and 3/23.

• Open Mic night on March 24th

• Dance for the Arts:  Saturday March 25th from 7-11pm at Groton Country Club

           This is a 21+ event.  All proceeds to benefit GDRHS arts, music and drama!

Just to name a few.....  Have a wonderful weekend!

Dance for the Arts

The Groton Dunstable Arts Boosters present

   The Fourth Annual

    "Dance for the Arts"

DJ, cash bar (21+ only), refreshments, raffles, silent auctions

Groton Country Club

$15 per person, tickets at the door

Saturday, March 25th

7-11PM

TEDx returns to GDRSD on March 10th at 6pm

This year's event is organized by students who want to change the world for the better.

TEDxYouth@GDRHS welcomes the community to join us for an evening of inspiring speakers, idea sharing, and positive discussions. We’ll explore “The Pursuit of Creativity” through the eyes of art, science, psychology and the humanities. Friday evening, March 10th at 6pm in the Black Box at GDRHS. 

Tickets are only $10 and include refreshments.  For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit the GDRHS library or email tedxgdrhs@gdrsd.org.

Good Evening Parents,

One of our goals this year, in unison with other district schools, is to engage in Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports or PBIS.

What is PBIS?

Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a proactive approach to establishing the behavioral supports and social culture and needed for all students in a school to achieve social, emotional and academic success.

To begin this process we need to establish Core Values for our school community.  This includes our students as well as parents, staff and community members who work with schools.  Last month, with a group of students, parents and staff members, we worked to create a working list of values which we would like to see promoted in our school community.  We created a list of 11 values.  Ultimately, our goal is to narrow this list down to four or five and we need your help.  It is important for us that all stakeholders have input into this decision as our core values will help drive decision making in our school.  Please consider taking a moment to weigh in on which values you would like GDRHS to identify with.  It will only take a second.  We will also be seeking input from all other stakeholders at a later date.

 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSewor4-mQ4NarZdCi9vFMH1ta1f8pKhUoShBvaQEuKBq7xA6A/viewform

Thanks.

Open House Tonight

Good Morning,

We hope everyone had a wonderful February Vacation.  A reminder that Open House is tonight from 6-8pm.  The evening will begin with opening remarks in the Black Box Theater and then parents will follow their student's schedules.  Please bring a copy of your student's schedule.