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This year, the high school senior was the recipient of the Robotics Scholarship Award presented by the West Islip Robotics Booster Club. He is attending the University of Rhode Island, where he will study engineering. Walton is a life resident of West Islip and joined the Robotics Club in ninth grade. The Club won the competion four years ago, and the juniors and seniors attended the finals in Atlanta, Georgia competing against 100 teams including 40 from Long Island. He is the son of Terri and Glenn Walton and the grandson of Alice Lynch, all of West Islip. This year, the challenge offered to Robotics Clubs across the country by F.I.R.S.T. (For Inspiration and Recognition Science and Technology), was to create a robot with a pully system. The Club designed a ramp that unfolded to three times its size, which included the required pully system, and offered enough room for two other robots to stand on. The cost of entering a team into the competition is high and the school district does not pick up any of those fees in its budget. Instead the team and supporters, incuding the Robotics Booster Club, handles its own financing, holding fundraising activities to finance not only the entry fees but the cost of the materials needed to design and build the robotic entry. "We hold raffles, car shows at the West Islip Library, and every year we participate in the Higby Lane clean up a highway program," said Walton. The Club also enlists sponsors to help offset the cost of the competition. "Senator Owen Johnson is a big sponsor for the Club," Walton explained. Every year in January, F.I.R.S.T. presents its challenge and all competing teams have six weeks to complete their project, pack and ship it to Hofstra University, where the judging takes place. The Club also offers other benefits that attract students who may not be interested in robotics. "If you are not into the technology part, you can learn the business aspect of the team," said Walton. "The object is team work and members learn how to work together to complete a successful project."
Walton encourages all students to join the Club, "This is a great experience all around," he said.
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