Congratulations to the CyberHawks Robotics team who ranked #3 at Regionals in Albany! After 84 qualification matches at Albany the team held a record of 8-1. Advisor Jeffrey Ramirez shared, “This tied with our best individual team ranking set back in 2017. Following qualifications the team became the 2nd alliance captain in the playoffs. Unfortunately, the team went 0-2 in the playoffs and finished 7th overall. This meant that the team was not able to qualify for Houston this year. Although a disappointment for us all, we were all incredibly proud of our performance, this experience and the opportunity we all shared.”

After competing at the Hofstra Regionals on March 20, the team ranked 12 out of a field of 49 at the end of 80 qualifications matches. During the playoffs as the Captain of Alliance 8 - the team had its best finish in qualification matches for CSH in a Regional in recent years! It sealed the next trip to the Albany - where for the second time this season, senior Casandra Reilly was chosen to sing the National Anthem at kick-off. What an honor for Casandra and for CSH!

The 2025 FIRST Robotics Global competition includes 3500 tams world-wide all battling this year's theme entitled REEFSCAPE (presented by Haas), where teams use their STEM and collaboration skills to “make waves” and explore life beneath the surface of the ocean. The 2025 challenges feature new objectives, scoring methods and game elements (like coral, algae, reefs, barges and cages), encouraging teams to innovate and adapt their strategies. The core mission of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is finding the best solution, becoming the problem solver with project-based learning, and allowing students to think inside and outside the box! Part of the ethos of FIRST is Gracious Professionalism® - It’s a way of doing things that encourages high quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community by competing your best, but exuding values of respect, kindness and dignity, always willing to aid a fellow team. There are over 200,000 volunteer mentors in the program to date, and 300 new teams this year - after beginning FIRST 30 years ago. The students have now become mentors, including our very own alumni at CSH!

A huge shout out to Robotics advisor Jeffrey Ramirez, and team mentors Jim Hardy, Stephen Jay, Dune Nordemann and James Thompson.

click this link to watch Casandra Reilly sing the National Anthem at Hofstra:

After receiving an audition recording, the planning committee in Albany chose Casandra to sing the National Anthem to kick off their event! It was held in the MVP arena (over triple the size of the Hofstra arena!) Amazing!

A little more about the Cyberhawks Robotics Team:

• The team is comprised of students in grades 9-12 at CSH High School.

• The 2025 team currently has 25 members

• Student Leaders include:

Team Captain-Ryan Smith

Code Captain-Milan Lustig, Ryan Smith

Build Captains-Blake Lipman, Mary Getzoni, Chris DeSimone

Electrical Captains-Keira Chan, Kaitlynn Hanna

Treasurer- Elizabeth Zhan

Team Advisor-Jeffrey Ramirez

Mentors- Stephen Jay, Dune Nordemann, JT and former advisor Jim Hardy.