About
Thornlea Secondary School is located in Thornhill, Ontario, Canada. Our school has more than a thousand students from grades 9-12 from a multitude of different cultures. Thornhill has a very ethnically diverse population. It is home to a significant number of Jewish, Chinese, Korean, Iranian, and Italian people. Our robotics team is composed of 6 student leaders/mentors plus over 50 students of diverse backgrounds both male and female, with a strong representation from visible minorities. Our team reflects the makeup of our community with the largest minority group being Chinese, followed by Black, South Asian, Korean, Iranian, Filipino and West Asian. We did a small survey of our students and the languages spoken at home of our team, in addition to English and French, are Chinese, Farsi, Hebrew, Yiddish, Arabic, Mandarin, Cantonese, Hindi, Vietnamese, Spanish, Russian, Romanian, Latvian, German, Armenian, Persian and Turkish.
Thornlea Secondary School has always been a leader in STEM. The school has competed in and won many competitions in its history and in recent years. In 2018, Thornlea won a prize at the Science Olympics competition. The same year, Thornlea won the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow challenge, for their groundbreaking hydroponics system, winning $20,000 worth of Samsung Technology. In addition, Our school has been a regular competitor in Skills Ontario’s robotics competitions, and students have done extremely well in math and computing contests. This year will be the inaugural year for FIRST at Thornlea. The creation of the new team is another step forward for the strong STEM presence at the school.
Awards
Judge’s Award
During the course of the competition, the judging panel may decide a team’s unique efforts, performance, or dynamics merit recognition
-Ontario Provincial Championship 2022
Highest Rookie Seed
Celebrates the highest-seeded rookie team at the conclusion of the qualifying rounds.
-2022 Ontario District York University Day 1
Highest Rookie Seed
Celebrates the highest-seeded rookie team at the conclusion of the qualifying rounds.
- Ontario Provincial Championship 2022
Rookie All Star
Celebrates the rookie team exemplifying a young but strong partnership effort, as well as implementing the mission of FIRST to inspire students to learn more about science and technology.
-2022 Ontario District Humber College Day 1
Winner
2023 Ontario District University of Waterloo Event
Highest Rookie Seed
Celebrates the highest-seeded rookie team at the conclusion of the qualifying rounds
-2022 Ontario District Humber College Day 1
About FIRST
"The mission of FIRST® is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders and innovators, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering, and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership." - FIRST
What We Do
-
Mechanical
Every year, we build a large 125lbs robot. Depending on the year, the robot will have a different skill set. Our team machines the necessary parts to create sophisticated systems and mechanisms.
-
Programming
We program our robot each year to complete the necessary tasks. We allow the driver to operate our robot's mechanisms easily. Our team also programs autonomous cycles for our robot.
-
Design & CAD
We prototype and design our robots. We then digitally design them with professional CAD softare like Solidworks. This allows us to be extremely precise with our designs.
-
Electrical
We wire all our motors, and other electronics on our robot. We ensure safe and efficient power delivery for numerous components.
-
Outreach
Our students run outreach events in the community. We show our robot, STEM, and engineering.
-
Media
We capture our team's progress and work using professional software and equipment. We prepare documents, videos, and other media for promotion.