All in for Albany’s Robotics Team!

We would like to take this opportunity to once again congratulate our Albany High School Robotics Team for its exceptional performance at the recent New York Tech Valley FIRST Regional Robotics Competition held at the MVP Arena.

Team 1493 led throughout most of the competition and finished as the runner-up at the event, finishing as the top team from the Capital Region for the second time in four years. Team 1493 once again has earned the opportunity to move on to the FIRST 2022 Championship and represent our area next month in Houston. We are extremely proud of our students’ achievements and looking forward to their continued success at this international competition!

We also would like to thank our community for the outpouring of support that Team 1493 has received since its strong performance at the regionals. Sending a large team of students and coaches – and their talented robot! – to an international competition is a large undertaking. 

In less than two weeks, Team 1493 has far exceeded its fundraising goal through a combination of support from local organizations, our families and our school district. Together, we have raised funds that not only will support the robotics team in Houston, but also in the future as our dedicated teachers continue to grow the program to provide more opportunities to students in the years to come. 

I would like to thank our longtime robotics partner National Grid for its amazing $35,000 contribution to support the team’s trip to Houston. Ed and Lisa Mitzen’s Business for Good Foundation has generously donated an additional $20,000 to support the team. We are beyond grateful!

Team 1493 parent Gillian Flynn also took the lead on a Go Fund Me effort that also has collected nearly $30,000 from more than 350 individual donors – in just over a week! Our families and community members are outstanding! 

All of this support is in addition to $11,360 from the district and Albany High.

We appreciate every contribution that has come in to support our students and their dreams. This is the power we have collectively when we all work together – community, families and the district in partnership – to support our students’ success. 

Thank you to everyone for being “All in for Albany!”

Let’s go Falcons!

Yours in education,

Kaweeda G. Adams
Superintendent