Adding new prizes to their glittering trophy case, the Boys Town Jerusalem’s Robotics Team was awarded First Prize for Presentation and Third Prize for Robot Performance in the recent 2016 FLL-Israel (“FIRST Lego League”) Regional Robotics Competition. For the three 15-year-old seasoned veterans of BTJ’s Robotics Team who now passed the torch to their 12-year-old successors, this competition sparked a robust beacon for “the next generation.”

“It’s time to prepare the champions of the future,” said 10th-grader Yehudah Neimark philosophically, “and we know what they need to succeed.” Thus Yehudah and cohorts Elazar Pankratov and Orel Ofner created an intensive one-of-a-kind program for the 10 seventh graders who passed their stringent acceptance criteria. “Our goal is to give each one a strong basis in math and computer programming, a mastery of robotics and the tools for innovative thinking.” In short, to cultivate a new team of boys as passionate for robotics as Yehudah, Elazar and Orel.

All BTJ Robotics Team activities are extracurricular. Technically, the group meets twice weekly for two-hour sessions. In reality, team members can be found afternoons and evenings for endless hours, hard at work in the school’s state-of-the-art Judge David B. and Irma R. Follender Robotics Center. When a surprise snowstorm hit last winter, Yehudah, Elazar and Orel simply camped out there. Although the 10th graders are no longer eligible for the FLL competitions, they remain glued to the Robotics lab to mentor their younger classmates.

“We’re learning so much,” exclaimed 12-year-old team member Itamar Yomtov. “Now we’re aiming to win the next contest. And the one after that!”