image description — The Husky 4 of Herberg Middle School was the champion at Saturday's Berkshire Robotics Challenge. Pictured are coach Wendy Stebbins, left, Ezekiel Mason, Ashton Brennan, Aastha Rai, Qing Song and coach Ellen Lantz.

Herberg's Husky 4 Wins Berkshire Robotics Challenge

07:58PM / Saturday, March 19, 2022Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Husky 4 of Herberg Middle School defeated the Raging Riots of St. Mary's School in Lee to be crowned champion of "Cargo Connect," the 21st Berkshire Robotics Challenge, conducted Saturday at the Berkshire Innovation Center.

The tally in the finals was 250 points for Herberg and 200 for St. Mary's.

The competition involved six teams of students ages 8 to 14 from throughout the county who used programmable robots built from Lego kits to complete a variety of missions involving hypothetical scenarios related to safe, efficient transportation. The event was sponsored by Berkshire Applied Technology Council, with major underwriting support from the Feigenbaum Foundation and General Dynamics Mission Systems.

Ellen Lantz and Wendy Stebbins were coaches for Herberg, which featured team members Aastha Rai, Ashton Brennan, Ezekiel Mason and Qing Song.

Cara Maiorano, Christine Barry and Conner Consolati were coaches for St. Mary's School, which featured team members Brendan Bayles, Joey Abderhalden, Sam Korte, Jacob Cooper, Natalie Hall, Sophie Alsmaan, Isabella Hall, Keaghan Kline, Bernadette Starczewski and Matt Abderhalden.

Other award winners were:

Comeback Kids: Lee Robowildcats of Lee Elementary School.
Best Research Project: Lee Robowildcats.
Best Programming: BART-Botics of Berkshire Arts and Technology Public Charter School.
Most Innovative Design: Herberg Middle School.
Team Spirit Award: Conte Mechanics of Conte Community School.
Sportsmanship Award: St. Agnes Angels of St. Agnes' School in Dalton.

Judges, inspectors and referees for the event were Wil Bourdon, John Bracci, and Jim Chalfonte of General Dynamics Mission Systems and Kevin Mooney of GE. Chalfonte and his son, Liam, were scorekeepers.

The planning committee included Denise Johns, Tim Butterworth and Kate Light of the Berkshire Innovation Center, Bourdon and Chalfonte of General Dynamics, Doug Crane of the New Dalton Group, Bernie Klem of Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America, Kevin Mooney of GE and John Wood of SABIC.

Tags: robotics,

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Pittsfield Housing Project Adds 37 Supportive Units and Collective Hope

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:01PM / Monday, December 29, 2025

PITTSFIELD, Mass.— A new chapter in local efforts to combat housing insecurity officially began as community leaders and residents gathered at The First on to celebrate a major expansion of supportive housing in the city.

The ribbon was cut on Thursday Dec. 19, on nearly 40 supportive permanent housing units; nine at The First, located within the Zion Lutheran Church, and 28 on West Housatonic Street. The Housing Resource Center, funded by Pittsfield's American Rescue Plan Act dollars, hosted a celebration for a project that is named for its rarity: The First.

"What got us here today is the power of community working in partnership and with a shared purpose," Hearthway CEO Eileen Peltier said.

In addition to the 28 studio units at 111 West Housatonic Street and nine units in the rear of the church building, the Housing Resource Center will be open seven days a week with two lounges, a classroom, a laundry room, a bathroom, and lockers.

Erin Forbush, ServiceNet's director of shelter and housing, challenged attendees to transform the space in the basement of Zion Lutheran Church into a community center. It is planned to operate from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. year-round.

"I get calls from folks that want to help out, and our shelters just aren't the right spaces to be able to do that. The First will be that space that we can all come together and work for the betterment of our community," Forbush said.

"…I am a true believer that things evolve, and things here will evolve with the people that are utilizing it."

Earlier that day, Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Ed Augustus joined Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll and her team in Housatonic to announce $33.5 million in federal Community Development Block Grant funding, $5.45 million to Berkshire County.

He said it was ambitious to take on these two projects at once, but it will move the needle. The EOHLC contributed more than $7.8 million in subsidies and $3.4 million in low-income housing tax credit equity for the West Housatonic Street build, and $1.6 million in ARPA funds for the First Street apartments.

"We're trying to get people out of shelter and off the streets, but we know there are a lot of people who are couch surfing, who are living in their cars, who are one paycheck away from being homeless themselves," Augustus said.

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