Orchard Park’s Team 2056 in FIRST Robotics receives $5,000 from Kiwanis Club of Hamilton East
The Kiwanis Club of Hamilton East recently recognized Orchard Park Secondary School’s Team 2056 for its excellence in FIRST Robotics. The Kiwanis chapter donated $5,000 to the team during the chapter’s 80th Anniversary Celebration at Michelangelo’s Banquet Centre on Friday, Feb. 28, 2020.
Stated on their website, FIRST Robotics challenges students to, “raise funds, design a team ‘brand,’ hone teamwork skills, and build and program industrial-size robots to play a difficult field game against like-minded competitors.”
Photo retrieved from OP Robotics Twitter account @frc2056
Team 2056 is led by two Orchard Park teachers and their head engineering mentor; Mr. Hunter, Mr. Kitchen, and Tyler Holtzman. The group has achieved a significant amount of success since its formation in 2007.
Kitchen expressed his gratitude on his Twitter account, “Special thanks to Kiwanis Club East Hamilton for their generous donation to Team 2056 @frc2056.”
The Kiwanis Club of Hamilton East has been supporting Team 2056 for multiple years, but decided to increase its sponsorship to $5,000 in light of recent milestones. Team 2056’s diversity, leadership, and strong work ethic has inspired club members and they hope the program continues to help students reach their full potential.
Orchard Park’s Team 2056 is a FIRST Robotics team competing in a variety of local, provincial and international competitions.
In the past three seasons alone, Team 2056 has placed first in competitions such as the Waterloo District Event, McMaster District Event, and Ontario Provincial Championship. The team has also finished in the top three rankings on numerous occasions at the Detroit World Championship, which involves roughly 400 teams from over 30 countries.
The Kiwanis Club has donated millions of dollars to numerous community groups, with one of them being Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board. The Kiwanis chapter has supported HWDSB students through the Student Financial Relief Program, Kiwanis Youth Recognition Awards, education grants, and more.
Updated on Monday, March 02, 2020.