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Past Robots

Our History:

Kod Red:

In 1997 Mr. Gene Gordon and 27 students formed the original Fairport FIRST team: Kod-Red, Team 36. The name Kod-Red came from the team's original sponsor, Kodak, and the school's mascot, the Red Raider.

The logo for the team was designed by students at Fairport High School through a school-wide contest. The first regional the team ever competed in was the Mid-Atlantic Regional. At this regional, Kod Red won a Judge's Award for our robot's unique function.

One year later, Kod Red changed its team number to 52, though the name remained the same. The team competed once again in the Mid- Atlantic regional.

The Years of FIA:

Due to some changes at Kodak, the team was left sponsorless. Fortunately, the team was adopted by The Gleason Works. It re-registered as FRC Team 277 FIA, or Fairport Intelligence Agency, and made it all the way to the championship.

Blue Lightning:

After the Columbine School Shootings changed the public's view of trench coats, the team decided to change its name to Blue Lightning. Blue is one of Fairport High School's colors, and  lightning symbolizes the team's energy. The original slogan was "Thunder makes the noise, but lightning does the work."

Blue Lightning held another school-wide art contest to come up with a new logo. The team ended up winning the Philadelphia Regional in 2000, and the NASA Langley-VCU Regional in 2001 (in Virginia). Every year Blue Lightning competed in FIRST Regionals, the team learned about building, 3D animation, marketing, and much more. But even more important is the impact FIRST has had on the team. In 2005, 100% of the members went on to college to study something related to science and technology, and all of the members that have gone through the program have graduated from high school. The trend continues to this day.

Red Raider Robotics:

It was decided in the summer of 2010 that the team was not connected enough to the high school, causing confusion as to who FIRST Team 578 actually was. All the teams at Fairport High School are the Red Raiders and at this time, FRC Team 578 was Fairport Blue Lightning. To remove this confusion, the team's name was changed to Red Raider Robotics.