The robotics students at Benjamin Cardozo High School in Bayside have received a significant donation from a local philanthropist as it prepares to compete in global competitions this year.
The team, #5599, The Sentinels, showed off last year’s creations, Voltron and Hal5700, as they work on a new pair of robots that will compete in a number of tasks against teams from around the world. The next round of competitions will take place at Hofstra University in March and in Manhattan in April.
The Subraj Foundation, based in Jamaica, donated $10,000 to the team. The foundation, which was begun by the late
George Subraj, founder of Zara Realty, and is now run by members of his family, including Tony Subraj, supports a number of educational programs at local schools, as well as health care initiatives in New York and in the Caribbean and South America.
“Robotics in the classroom can help students funnel their energy into creativity and innovation, teaching them how to persist and solve problems, while also helping them prepare them for real-world challenges,” said Tony Subraj, principal at Zara Realty. “We are thrilled to support students at local schools like Cardozo and the amazing educational work they are doing, as we continue to invest in the community where we live and work.”
The robotics student team, which is comprised of 80 students in Grades 9-12, and advised by faculty and former student mentors, is building the new robots from scratch, using materials and equipment supported by the Subraj donation.
Several of Zara’s tenants are students at the school and members of the robotics team.
Robotics is an important component of the school’s STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) program, challenging students to work through complex engineering and mathematical problems to create real, working robots that are controlled wirelessly.
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