tephen Dacey ’95 (left) and Jay McGilvray (right) both joined the
ranks of the “doctors” on campus this spring. Dr. Dacey, our Assistant
Principal for Teaching and Learning, earned his Doctor of Education in
Educational Leadership from Boston College in March. Dr. McGilvray,
our Assistant Principal for Grades 7 and 8 (FXD), earned his Doctor of
Education in Interdisciplinary Leadership, as well as a certificate in Catholic
School Leadership — both from Creighton University. Way to go, Dr. Dacey
and Dr. McGilvray!
averian’s first-ever FIRST® robotics
team was formed in the spring of 2021,
preparing for its initial competitive
season in winter 2022. With Mr. Chris Roche
(computer science teacher) and Mr. John
Tassinari (science teacher) at the helm, the team
quickly got to work researching, designing,
building, and refining a robot to compete
in the FIRST® Tech Challenge. Their first
step? Deciding on a team name. While every
team competing has a number (Xaverian is
team #19460), having a compelling name is
important. That’s how team #19460 became
known as “Hawk Robotics — The Ryken Force.”
The Ryken Force gathered multiple
afternoons a week and throughout vacations
from May 2021 into the winter in order to build
their robot for competition. This year’s FIRST®
challenge, “Freight Frenzy,” required teams
Hawk Robotics—The Ryken Force
to build a robot that could navigate a playing
field, picking up game pieces (“freight”), and
depositing them into specific holders. From
coding, to 3D design and printing, to robot
building and mechanics, students worked in the
robotics lab and in the X-Ploration Center to
perfect their robot. They had a great first season
of competition despite cancellations and delays
due to COVID-19. On Saturday, February 19,
the team traveled to Canton High School to
compete in the FIRST® “Who Let the Bots Out”
robotics competition. In a field of 25 teams,
the Ryken Force performed extremely well and
made it to the playoffs, an honor reserved for
the top 12 teams. In a tough competition, the
Ryken Force team lost to the eventual winners
of the tournament, but the team’s robot showed
impressive power to get over barriers and score
points. It was a great start for the inaugural
season of FIRST® robotics at Xaverian.
A programmer’s work is never done! Despite
the season ending, the Ryken Force went right
back into meetings to create even better robots
so they’ll be ready for competition next year.
This May, they had the opportunity to visit
the production and testing facilities at Boston
Dynamics—the renowned robotics company
known for its robots, such as “Atlas,” “Spot,” and
“Big Dog.” It was a thrilling day for the students
as they toured the facility, seeing how the robots
were built and tested. According to Mr. Roche,
the students asked good questions and watched
with amazement as the Atlas robot balanced,
cartwheeled, walked, and ran. He says they
returned with new ideas and excitement for
robotics!
Congratulations, Dr. Dacey and Dr. McGilvray!
Pictured here (l to r) standing outside Boston Dynamics are Colin Teahan ’24, Tomas Ricci ’23, Michael Lachut ’25, Donald Hicks ’23, Matthew Lopez ’24,
Paul Fischer ’24, and Joshua Miller ’22
Summer 2022 Xaverian Magazine 7