Senate Resolution No. 941

BY: Senator O'MARA

CONGRATULATING the GorillaBots Team 5485 upon the
occasion of capturing First Place at the New York
Excelsior FIRST Tech Challenge Regional Tournament
and ranking first in the Ochoa Division at the FIRST
Tech Challenge World Championship in Houston, Texas

WHEREAS, Individual and team championships are vital in healthy
competition among our students; this Legislative Body commends rare
achievements and pays special recognition to those who pursue such
excellence and become examples for the youth of this great Empire State;
and

WHEREAS, Competition helps prepare students for the future by
instilling in them the importance of teamwork and developing a sense of
fair play; and

WHEREAS, This Legislative Body is justly proud to congratulate the
GorillaBots Team 5485 upon the occasion of capturing First Place at the
New York Excelsior FIRST Tech Challenge Regional Tournament; and

WHEREAS, For the first time in five years, the team qualified and
competed in the Robotics FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship in
Houston, Texas, April 16-19, 2025; the GorillaBots took First Place in
the Ochoa Division and currently rank 26th in the world (out of 8,800
teams worldwide); and

WHEREAS, A culmination of months of work, multiple hours per day,
this prestigious event is such an honor to the members of the
GorillaBots Team 5485 which is comprised of students from Horseheads,
Elmira, and Corning, New York; and

WHEREAS, The competition includes qualification matches and alliance
selections; while competing, two teams are paired to form an alliance;
one team's robot picks up blocks and puts them in a basket while the
other team's robot brings blocks to a human who attaches a hook to them;
the robot brings the blocks back to the center of the floor and hangs
the blocks on a beam, and the alliance with the most points wins the
round; and

WHEREAS, At the Regional Competition, there are eight qualification
matches, followed by alliance selection and playoff matches, which
determine the teams that participate in the FIRST World Championship;
and

WHEREAS, The GorillaBots Team 5485 prioritizes mentoring new members
to ensure sufficient hands-on experience; community outreach is another
goal of the team, spreading the concept of science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM); and

WHEREAS, The dedicated students of the GorillaBots Team 5485 work
with the Science & Discovery Center in Corning, volunteer at their
summer camps, mentor local middle school robotics teams, and build
science kits and distribute them at various community events; they

deserve admiration for their contributions of more than 800 hours to
their communities within New York State; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
congratulate the members of the GorillaBots Team 5485: Jacob Chung,
Lydia Chung, Andrew Clark, Kaeden Martinez, Aidan McGroarty, Niyati
Sharma, Aditya Aiyar, Miroslav Goral, Sriram Aravelli, Frank Chen, Mark
Mendez, Jennifer Yu, Matthew Han, and Caylee Hinman upon the occasion of
capturing First Place at the New York Excelsior FIRST Tech Challenge
Regional Tournament; and be it further

RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to the members of the GorillaBots Team 5485; and Coaches,
Lauren Chung, Michael Nishimoto, and Mark Joiner.