The 2022-2023 school year will see new leadership on the Gorham-Falmouth Robotics Team, as Clare and Meredith Greenlaw assume the head coaching positions of FIRST Robotics® Team 172, The Northern Force. They replace Falmouth teacher, John Kraljic, who successfully coached the team for the last two decades, along with Gorham coach Michelle Moutinho, also retiring, and several other Gorham coaches before her.
Photo courtesy of Robotics TeamL-R – incoming head coaches, Meredith and Clare Greenlaw; outgoing head coaches, John Kraljic and Michelle Moutinho
The team was founded in 1996 by former Gorham High School teacher, Roger Lord, who was instrumental in not only forming the team but also in formalizing the partnership with Falmouth High School teacher, John Kraljic, in 2003. Along with the leadership of IDEXX engineer Tim Keegan, Lanco Assembly Systems engineer Richard Burt, Gorham parents, Lori Arsenault, Karen Collins, Michelle Moutinho and countless mentors and students from both Gorham and Falmouth. FIRST Robotics Team 172, The Northern Force, is one of the world’s oldest FIRST teams, still going strong after more than 26 years.
Retiring coach John Kraljic states that “Robotics programs offer opportunities to students that are not found in the school curriculum. Students work alongside professionals (engineers, programmers, designers, teachers and businesspeople) who mentor them to design and build robots but also to build life-long skills in leadership, communication, budgeting/finance, planning and teamwork.”
Photo courtesy of Robotics TeamRetiring coach, John Kraljic, works with students on their robot, “Frank,” in the pit at the Pine Tree District Event.
Coach Kraljic has many special memories of coaching the team, including each year’s team, the FIRST community locally and beyond, watching the growth of students during the build season, attending three world championships, and building friendships with the mentors.
New coaches, Clare and Meredith Greenlaw bring a variety of experience to their coaching roles. Clare developed a unique appreciation for building pragmatic solutions to novel problems using a combination of STEM and trade skills from his father who was a teacher at Westbrook Regional Vocational Center until his death in 1989.
Both Clare and Meredith have been executives in the STEM and manufacturing fields for decades. Meredith, an executive at IDEXX, hopes to ensure that today’s STEM and technology students have strong, diverse role models in technology-related industries. As dean of the Graduate MBA program at Southern New Hampshire University, Clare focuses on developing unique learning programs providing skills and competencies that businesses desire.
As a family, the Greenlaws have two daughters who had the opportunity to benefit from participation in the robotics program. While on the team, they developed different interests, one studying computer science and data analytics and the other working as an electrical engineering technician and pursuing further education in precision manufacturing.
This year will present a unique challenge and opportunity for the team. In addition to new coaches, both Gorham and Falmouth graduated many seniors leaving a young team composed of a number of rookies. This strongly motivated and talented group of young students is already meeting with mentors to learn the foundations of robotics, engineering, design and programming to prepare for their competition season.
Photo courtesy of Team 172Team 172 drivers work with an alliance partner from another team at the Pine Tree District Event.
The new coaches’ goals involve creating a “4th Industrial Revolution” career awareness and readiness, empowering a learning environment for students and mentors, mimicking industry in the team’s organizational structure and operations and measuring tangible industry and college-recognized program outcomes. They are well on their way to implementing their plan to achieve these goals.
The Greenlaws hope to continue the tradition of building a strong community of students and mentors that foster lifelong learning by focusing on using technology as a backdrop for learning professional and personal skills. These skills include creativity, empathy, emotional intelligence, teamwork, communication and innovation around problem-solving, always with an awareness of what the FIRST community around the world knows as “Gracious Professionalism®.”
For information about joining the team or becoming a mentor, please contact firstteam172@gmail.com or 207-632-7108. The coaches also sponsor a FIRST Robotics Lego League Team for middle schoolers that is now accepting interested students.