Six Waltham high school students win robotics competition

Gann Academy students from left to right: Potel, Kaufman, Perlmutter, Chaney, Jaeger, and Rosenstein.

By Megan McKee, Town Correspondent

Six high school students from Waltham's Gann Academy have taken home top honors in a New York robotic competition despite the fact that this was the team's first year in existence

“This is an incredible educational experience, and quite an accomplishment,” said Rabbi Marc Baker, Head of School at Gann Academy. “The work these students have done and what they have been able to achieve in such a short period of time is truly inspirational.”

The students, who attend the private school, competed in the FIRST Tech Challenge Championship in New York last month and took home the Inspire Award, which is given to the team that finishes in the top among all judging categroies.

It's the competition's highest honor and means the team-- called Robotics And Brain Bots Inc. or RABBI-- is headed to St. Louis for the FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship.

To prepare, Ben Chaney, Aaron Jaeger, Nathan Kaufman, Eliana Perlmutter, Ben Potel, and Sam Rosenstein spent hours during and after school designing, building, and programing a robot to use in competition's challenges. Throughout the process, they learn the engineering and science of robotics.

FIRST is a nonprofit dedicated to inspiring young adults to pursue technology and sciences through hand-on approaches. The organization's name is an acronym and stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.

Gann Academy is a private high school that integrates intensive Jewish studies into the the studies of science and humanities. It's located on Forest Street in Waltham.

Chaney is from Arlington; Aaron Jaeger is from Needham; Kaufman is from Dedham: Perlmutter is from Stow; Potel is from Chestnut Hill; and Sam Rosenstein is from Newton.

Megan McKee can be reached at megan.mckee@gmail.com.