Blake Algier ’26 cheers at a recent FTC Competition, where the Gunston Gearios were honored with the Judges’ Choice Award, a prestigious nod to a team whose unique efforts and dynamics stand out beyond standard categories. Also pictured are Logan Brock ’28 and Connor Joyce ’26.
After five months of intensive engineering, coding, and strategic collaboration, the Gunston School’s robotics team, the Honey Nut Gearios (Team 9530), concluded their most successful season to date. Running from September to February, the season was defined by a record-breaking roster, a commitment to systematic engineering, and back-to-back award wins at regional qualifiers.
The team competes in the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC), a global program where students in grades 7–12 are tasked with designing, building, and programming a robot to compete in a complex, themed game. Unlike traditional science fairs, FTC operates like a professional sports league: teams must form strategic alliances in 2 vs 2 matches, support STEM efforts in their local community, and present a professional “engineering portfolio” to a panel of expert judges. To succeed, students must master both “soft skills”—like public speaking and project management—and technical skills like Java programming and mechanical CAD (Computer-Aided Design). The Gunston Gearios are the only team from the Eastern Shore of Maryland to compete.
The Gearios tested their mettle at two major FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) Qualifiers. In Alexandria, Va., on January 18, the team ranked 12th out of 24 teams. Their meticulous documentation earned them the 2nd Place Think Award, which recognizes teams that masterfully use an engineering portfolio to track their design and optimization process. In their final competition on February 1 at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, the team climbed to 10th place out of 28 teams. They were honored with the Judges’ Choice Award, a prestigious nod to a team whose unique efforts and dynamics stand out beyond standard categories.
This year, the Robotics team expanded to 23 students, the largest group in the program’s history. Led by Team Captain and Hardware Leader Connor Joyce ’26, Software Leader Lucas Watkins ’26, and Task Manager Lia Schut ’26, the team represented a diverse cross-section of the student body. Most notably, the entire hardware team consisted of “rookies,” and the roster featured more new students—a demographic shift that promises a bright future for Gunston’s STEM initiatives. “I’m incredibly proud of what the team accomplished this year,” said lead advisor Dr. Ken Wilson. “With the entire hardware team being FTC rookies, the experience they’ve gained is invaluable for next year.”
Members of the Gunston Gearios at a recent competition, from left to right, Ben Joyce ’29, Leo Forloney ’29, Kasiah Telligman ’29, Atticus Forloney ’29, Blake Algier ’26, Connor Joyce ’26, Lucas Watkins ’26, and Ben Perez ’26.
The team’s success was built on a rigorous schedule, including Dr. Wilson’s fall robotics class, dedicated homework periods, and an “After School Crew.” Most impressively, the “Weekend Crew” logged 15 weekends of work from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., fueled by a steady rotation of donuts and pizza. The season was bolstered by a dedicated group of mentors and volunteers. Matt Joyce, P’29 provided engineering expertise, pushing the students to adopt a quantitative, systematic approach to building. Jerome Brock, P’28 assisted in preparing students for the high-pressure judges’ meetings, while Adam Grant, P’27 provided logistical support. Additionally, Technology teacher Ryan Redding and science teacher Dr. Mariah Goodall supported the team through the Science and Engineering Club.
With a solid foundation of young talent and a proven track record of award-winning documentation and design, the team is already looking toward the 2026-2027 season! Congratulations to the Gunston Gearios:
Connor Joyce ’26, Lucas Watkins ’26, Lia Schut ’26, Annie Geng ’26, Caden Quirion ’26, Willem Grant ’27, Charlie Hartman ’27, Sam Ellis ’29, Ben Perez ’29, Ben Joyce ’29, Atticus Forloney ’29, Jake Hanlon ’27, Logan Brock ’28, Maggie Lindsay ’29, Kasiah Telligman ’29, AJ Fridrich ’27, Blake Algier ’26, Leo Forloney ’29, Ben Watkins ’28, Jed Cohen ’26, Sasha Wilson ’29, Brody Schultz ’29, and Brady Luongo ’29.
Lead photo: Members of the Gunston Gearios Robotics Team include (l-r) Caden Quirion ’26, Annie Geng ’26, Charlie Hartman ’27, Lucas Watkins ’26, Lia Schut ’26, Connor Joyce ’26, and Willem Grant ’27.
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Founded in 1911 and currently enrolling 256 students, The Gunston School is an independent, nonprofit, nonsectarian, coeducational, college preparatory high school located in Centreville, Maryland. Visit gunston.org for more information.
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