Kinetic Knights hand out awards at appreciation night

About 30 people attended the annual appreciation night, hosted by the Kinetic Knights (FRC Team 781) at the Lake Huron Learning Centre, Kincardine, at the end of June.

The event is an opportunity for the team to thank its sponsors, mentors, volunteers and parents, for their support throughout the 2016-17 season.

The team gave an overview of the year, with the creation of the robot, "The Mann," in honour of Second World War veteran and former Town of Kincardine mayor, Charles Mann, who died in January.

The build was done in six weeks, in January-February, and the Kinetic Knights went to two district events in March - Oshawa and Barrie - and the district championships in Mississauga in April. They won two Gracious Professionalism awards at the district regionals.

The Kinetic Knights are gearing up for the next season which begins in September, with build captain Matt Venner, administrative captain Alex Pierce, and safety captain Nathan Williams,

Awards were presented to the following:
 

• Rookie All-Star - Nathan Williams
• Rising Star - Matt Venner and Dakota Scholtz
• MVP - Maria Gonzalez-Rodriguez, a high school exchange student from Spain, who knew nothing about FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) when she arrived, but helped with awards and the build, and was the human player at the Ontario championships - she wants to start a FIRST team back in Spain
• Leadership - Jed Gonzales
• Outstanding Contribution - Alex Pierce
• Gracious Professionalism (voted by the students on the team) - Michael Strader