Mission Statement:

We educate, inspire, and equip for a lifetime of inclusion, community involvement, and improvement.

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Our Beginning 

Since 2013

The Gongoliers were founded on October 15, 2013 as an extracurricular activity within the Ponaganset High School STEM Academy. The foundation of the team was made possible by the commitment of the STEM Academy teachers and members of FTC team 5468.

The team participated in the Groton District Event and was happy to be the Highest Rookie Seed with a 17th ranked record; making it to the quarterfinals. Their enthusiasm paid off when the team was awarded the Rookie Inspiration Award. The team took their new experience and had a more successful weekend at the Rhode Island District Event. The team took home the Rookie All Star Award and was the 5th seed and made it to the semifinals.

The team qualified for New England Championships, but the funding to take the trip was not available. 

The Progress

From 17 to 40 PLUS

Our first season featured a group of 17 dedicated team members. We competed well, however, we knew we needed to do more. We have set our team up as a corporation including a Board of Directors who make all team decisions.  Our mentors guide us in everything we do, but allow us to have the power to learn real world skills.

We attribute our increase in membership to the fact that we have departments to appeal to all students. Each of our departments has a director and assistant.  Our Board of Directors includes our Co-Presidents, Director of Media & Public Relations, Director of Design & Technical and Director of Programming & Electrical.

The Near Future

Preparing for tomorrow

Our team has come a long way from the first year we entered the FIRST Robotics family. We no longer measure our goals in how we do in competitions. Our business plan now includes a twenty year implementation schedule that includes some fantastic events to help our communities. Events we have already accomplished include: a summer STEM camp for elementary students, after school classes for our community and FLL teams at our local elementary schools.

We have made some great strides with our robots and hope for a successful competition season!

FIRST® ROBOTICS COMPETITION 2025

FIRST Robotics Competition is the ultimate Sport for the MindTM, where imagination and innovation come together! By combining the excitement of sport and beauty of art with the rigors of science and technology, teams of high school students (ages 14 - 18/grades 9 - 12) are challenged to design a team “brand,” hone teamwork skills, and build and program robots to perform tasks against a field of competitors.

Teams work together to build, program and test robots with the guidance of adult mentors. Teams then compete with their robots as family and friends cheer from the stands at more than 160 events worldwide – all leading up to the 2025 FIRST Championship in Houston.