[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 6350-6351]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            TRIBUTE TO THE MORRIS HIGH SCHOOL ROBOTICS TEAM

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOSE E. SERRANO

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 17, 2003

  Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute and to 
congratulate the members of the Morris Robotics Team from Morris High 
School in the South Bronx for their remarkable work and achievements.

[[Page 6351]]

  Three years ago, thanks to Gary Israel, a history teacher, and a 
$5,000 award from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 
(NASA), the school started a robotics team. Mr. Israel campaigned to 
raise $25,000 from local sponsors, encouraged skeptical parents and 
faculty, and gathered a team of 15 students who built a robot named 
Bulldog. This robot placed 3rd out of 38 at the For Inspiration and 
Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) regional competition in 
New York, demonstrating the robot's agility and basketball skills, as 
well as its creators' teamwork. The Morris team worked with graduate 
students from Columbia University's School of Engineering to construct 
the robot, combining the technical knowledge of the engineers with the 
mechanical abilities of the teenagers.
  Morris High School has received support from many sponsors, such as: 
the Columbia University School of Engineering, the Fu Foundation and 
Applied Science, NASA, the North Folk Bank, the McGraw Hill Companies, 
the New York Yankees, ABC, and the Port Authority of New York & New 
Jersey. Secretary of State Colin Powell, a graduate of Morris High, 
presented the members of the Morris Robotics Team a gold coin in honor 
of the team's achievements over the past three years.
  Mr. Speaker, the Morris Robotics Team has mentored students at I.S. 
162 since they decided to join in the FIRST Lego League competition and 
looked for support. Morris High School students have been working at 
the school since October 2002, and thanks to this, on February 8, 2003, 
members of the Morris Robotics Team and I.S. 162 students competed for 
and won the 2003 First Lego Competition Director's Award. The 
Director's Award is given to the team that is best in five key elements 
of the Technical and Team Performance Awards.
  Morris High School also competed the weekend of March 8 with 60 other 
high schools around the country in competition for mentoring/coaching a 
winning middle school team. The Morris Robotics Team is the only New 
York City high school that has traveled to Richmond, Virginia, to 
compete in the NASA/Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) South-
Atlantic Regional FIRST Robotics Competition on March 6-8. On Friday, 
at the conclusion of the first day of competition, Morris High School 
won the Imagery Award, which celebrates attractiveness in engineering 
and outstanding visual aesthetic integration of the robot and the team 
appearance. At the end of the competition on Saturday, March 9, the 
Morris Robotics Team received the top trophy as the South Atlantic 
FIRST Robotics Winner. The Morris Team has the opportunity to be a dual 
regional winner when they compete in the New York City High School 
Robotics Regionals on March 21 and 22.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a moment to recognize the members 
of the team: Sherelle Benjamin, Malik Shuford, Sashanna Saunchess, 
Angel Alvarado, Walson Ty, Makeba Higgins, Tyrue Green, Jose 
Vanderpool, Mark Banks, Isaias Guity, Alison Green, Cruz Mayelyn De Los 
Santos, Uche Nwosu, Daniel Nwosu and Edwin Ruiz.
  This team has demonstrated that they have the ability and the desire 
to be assets and role models in our community. We are proud of their 
accomplishments and I am confident they will continue to be successful. 
They are terrific examples for students throughout our schools and 
communities.
  Again, I congratulate them and I wish them the best of luck in their 
future activities and competitions. They are our champions and our 
future leaders!
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in paying tribute to and 
congratulating the Morris High School Robotics Team in the South Bronx.

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