We started Nemesis on a wing and a prayer, with a NASA grant and the raw enthusiasm and naïve optimism of a hungry rookie team ready to try their skills and emerged with an experience of a lifetime at the Nationals with our simple, reliable robot. It is this camaraderie and esprit de corps that defines our team and fuels our growth. I am honored to work with a wonderful community of dedicated students, parents and professionals, who come to live in the Tech Lab for over 6 weeks for the always intense Build Season and weekly during the pre and post season.
After a successful career in the computer industry, I was challenged with the opportunity to build a robust and comprehensive Technology Department at Robbinsville High School; which encompasses Project Lead the Way pre-engineering courses, Computer Science and Design. This would be a truly daunting task without the technically competent, witty and confident duo of Peter Wolfe and Scott Meredith. Together, we lead the FIRST robotics team, create relevant courses and seek opportunities for our students to hone their skills in technology, teamwork, and leadership.
Empowering and “making a difference” in a young person’s life has many nuances, it may be: discovering a kindred spirit in engineers and professionals, seeing your first article or artwork published in the newspaper and website, managing thousands of dollars of real money, solo travel with the team to a new city, learning how to balance fun with the intense work of completing your goals with too little time and money - a precursor to the college life or simply finding a “home base” in high school, where you can be yourself and recharge. My goal is to instruct, help and guide students to find balance in the maelstrom called adolescence.
FIRST is a family affair and feasible, due to the vast commitment of time, with the support of my husband, Peter and daughters, Alex, Erin and Kiera. Alex and Erin were original members of the team and are now in college. Kiera has spent too many nights and weekends in the Tech Lab since the 5th grade.