Mrs. Schade | Team Advisor

This season is Mrs.Schade’s eleventh season as Team 870’s advisor. She became involved in the robotics program as a mother, whose son started in FIRST Lego League. She had continuous involvement in the program as a parent throughout her children's FIRST careers. Then, eleven years ago, she stepped up to an open position as an advisor. She loves that FIRST provides an opportunity for students to learn from an array of different skills. Whether it be business, build or social media, Mrs. Schade knows that every student will walk away from the program with a new skill. Furthermore, she believes that these skills have useful, real life applications. Outside of robotics, Mrs. Schade is a high school math teacher. She also enjoys spending time outdoors and vacationing with family in Lake George. Her favorite memory with this team has been watching each team grow together as a family. The inside jokes, laughter, the ups and downs are all memorable moments!

Mr. Gammon | Team Advisor

You can always find Mr. Gammon in the build room. He has been a team co-advisor with Mrs. Schade for the past eleven years. He enjoys watching the kids grow over the six weeks of build season. He loves being a mentor, because he gets to see First hand how everyone problem solves and overcomes different challenges. Mr. Gammon is very proud of all of the team’s successes most notably the 2024 season where Team 870 came in 2nd place in the World Championship where over 600 of the 3000 FRC teams compete! The words he lives by are “effort equals results”. When his schedule isn't filled with robotics, he's fishing and sailing.

Mr. Chilton | Build Team Mentor

Mr. Chilton is a driving force behind the progress on our team. Similar to the other members, Mr. Chilton has been forever changed by his participation and involvement with Southold Robotics, especially working with the students and mentors. He never considered himself someone who could pursue teaching, but has found that he has the ability to guide and teach students in the program and really enjoys it. He loves building the robot each year in the shop and spending time with the team. He said that there are far too many memorable moments to choose just one and the team just keeps getting better every year. Inspired by the team’s work ethic, Mr. Chilton came up with the team’s slogan, “Powered by Persistence”. When he is not consumed by the robotics season, he is restoring old cars, practicing the drums and fishing.

Mrs. Chilton | Mentor

Mrs. Chilton began her journey with FIRST in 2005 when her sons joined FIRST Lego League. In 2007, she followed her sons as they moved up to FIRST Robotics. Her transition from the role of a parent to a permanent mentor was seamless, and this is one of the things Mrs. Chilton admires about FIRST. “FIRST embraces parents and community participation.” Additionally, she spent one year as an advisor in the 2013-2014 season. Mrs. Chilton loves how the FIRST program allows students to be themselves. She finds that no matter who you are, you will be accepted both on Team 870 and at all FIRST competitions. Outside of robotics, Mrs. Chilton works at Southold High School as a special education PRA and enjoys gardening, cooking, fishing and boating. Her favorite memory with Team RICE was our 2022-2023 season, She will always remember watching our team steadily climb towards our goal of the World Competition in Houston where we won Daly Division and went on to compete in the Einstein Ring.

Mrs. Fouchet | Business Team Mentor

Mrs. Fouchet has been involved with the FIRST community for many years. She was a parent volunteer from 2004, when her oldest son joined Southold Junior High’s FIRST Lego League team, until 2016 when her youngest son graduated. Mrs. Fouchet officially became the Team 870 Business Mentor nine years ago. "Over the years it has been an honor to watch this team grow from a small group building awesome robots, to a full fledged organization with a "Business" side responsible for raising funds, managing sponsors and creating a visual presence in the community.  Students in this program are developing skills in engineering, construction, problem solving, finance, marketing, computer technology, communication, strategic thinking, negotiation and most importantly gracious professionalism. It is one of the hidden gems of Southold High School.”  Outside of robotics, Mrs. Fouchet recently retired from operating her own childcare business,  is a former Southold High School board member and a Southold School Educational Foundation board member. Her favorite moments at robotics are spent connecting with high school students, helping them broaden their skills and learning from them as well.  The relationships she has formed with many of the members are ones she will cherish for the rest of her life.

Mr. Tiu | Build Team Mentor

Mr. Tiu has been involved with the FIRST Robotics program since 1999-2000, the inaugural season of FIRST on Long Island. Mr. Tiu became a mentor to Team 870 in 2018 when he started teaching at Southold High School. Excited to discover that Southold had a successful, well-established robotics program, he offered to help in any way he could. Mr. Tiu loves how FIRST Robotics offers an authentic learning experience for students unlike any other program. In his eyes, it creates opportunities for mentors and students to learn together, which he considers the most meaningful and valuable interactions. Every year a new game full of new challenges is unveiled. We work together as a team to come up with practical, robust, innovative solutions. Outside of robotics, Mr. Tiu teaches Physics, AP Physics, Forensic Science, and Marine Science. He and his wife raise guide dogs, and he also enjoys flying drones and working on mechanical projects, including his 4x4 Ambulance Camper. He was once a competitive windsurfer but now enjoys the sport just for fun. Some of his most memorable moments on Team 870 include the nail-biting finals at both the Finger Lakes and Long Island Regionals in 2019. More recently the time that 870 made it all the way to the Einstein finals at the World Championship in 2023. He believes that 870’s success locally and beyond is a direct result of the team's dedication, cohesiveness, and hard work.

Mr. Ray | Build Team Mentor

Mr. Ray has been a FIRST Robotics mentor for 26 years. He first got involved when a friend asked for his help starting a team at a different school. He has worked with Team 870 for the past six years. He gets the greatest satisfaction when he sees the joy on a student’s face after they've worked hard on an aspect of the robot and it turns out to be successful. His most memorable experience was when a student insisted that his design prototype was best for that season’s robot. After the entire team failed to develop a successful design, they went with his and ended up making it to the Division Finals at the World Championship. Outside of robotics, Mr. Ray's favorite hobbies are woodworking and metalworking.

Mr.Kryl | Build Team Mentor

Mr. Kryl, formerly a Southold Jr. /Sr. High School Technology teacher, started his robotics journey in 2001. After watching a FIRST robotics video with a student and a parent, he founded our FIRST team, Team RICE 870. He was the team advisor until his retirement from the school district in 2010. He continued his robotics career as the team advisor for the Westhampton Beach Hurricanes, FIRST Team 3171. In 2023, Mr.Kryl retired from the Hurricanes and came back to Team 870 as a volunteer mentor. This is Mr. Kryl’s 24th year as a mentor! The most rewarding part for Mr. Kryl is observing students apply the skills they’ve learned in robotics to solve problems in the real world. Mr. Kryl loves witnessing when students have a “spark” and come up with new ideas. Mr. Kryl’s favorite hobbies outside of robotics consist of off-shore fishing and camping on the beach.

Mr.Mills | Build Team Mentor

Seven years ago, Mr. Mills was coaxed into coming to a Team 870 meeting by Mr. Wolf, a former mentor, and he was immediately sucked in. He has been a mentor ever since in the build room. He loves the challenge FIRST robotics poses to students and mentors alike. He is grateful for the opportunity to interact with the students, lead by example and rise to the challenges posed by FIRST every season. Mr. Mills is the president of WJ Mills Company, a canvas product production company. His favorite memory was during the 2019 season at the SBPLI regional, when Team 870 won! But he says he makes new memories with the team every day, especially when the team makes a breakthrough.

Mrs.Gammon| Business team mentor

Mrs.Gammon started following the robotics team in 2013 to support her son and husband. After watching how supportive and captivating the robotics community is, she decided to become a mentor and spread her expertise about interacting with businesses. She has been a driving force for success and a helping hand to every team member. Besides dedicating her time to Team 870 Mrs. Gammon enjoys watching the NHL and baking.

Mr.Schade | build team mentor