On January 7, the Steel Hawks, Townsend Harris’ robotics team, introduced a Robochambeau Tournament to raise funds in time for their new competition season. Managed by Physics teacher David Stern, the tournament will be a series of rock-paper-scissors matches between competitors and is open for students and teachers alike to participate. 

To become a participant, you need to first pay the entry fee of five dollars during zero band in the lobby.  A tournament can happen when a competitor challenges another to a game at any time of the day. After a winner is determined, the competitors  report the results to the Steel Hawks. Head of Media and sophomore Issac Wong said, “students will view the bracket for the day at our Steelbucks fundraising table during zero band.”

“Our team needs to fundraise because the cost of materials and the cost of entering into competitions has increased along with gas prices and inflation,” Mr. Stern said. “[There’s] just more of a financial burden on the team, so any money we get from fundraising really helps.”

The concept of Robochambeau was inspired by a rock-paper-scissors event that took place in Mr. Stern’s Alma Mater. He said, “It didn’t start there until after I had already graduated, but it was successful and the whole school bonded to it and everybody seemed to have a lot of fun with it.”  

Junior and Steel Hawks member Zarah Masud said, “I think [Robochambeau] is a good idea, extra money allows us to update our products to the newest versions and allows us to test new mechanisms.”

Isaac said the team is not ready to launch the competition yet, as they are still working on raising awareness and getting signups. “We are still in the process of obtaining feedback for the competition before we start and finalizing things on the administrative side, so not many have signed up as of now,” he said.

Freshman Bella Chen said, “they are doing a really good job advertising this tournament before the big day. I am definitely considering participating; the money is going to a good cause, and it’s going to be a fun memory to remember.”  

Photo courtesy of Katherine Lian