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team
newsletters:
"monthly" #1

get to know us!

TEAM MENTOR

This is Mr. Coulson’s fifth year as robotic team mentor. He is a math and technology teacher here at Parkway South. He is also the sponsor of the Girls in Engineering Club at our school. Before teaching, he earned degrees in chemical engineering at Virginia Tech, business administration at Duke, and secondary education at Maryville. He worked as an engineer, business manager, youth director, and stay-home-dad. All three of his children followed an engineering track through college, as did his wife! When not solving quadratic equations or building robots, he likes to travel, hike, eat good food and watch lots of movies.
team admin

Hello, my name is Jason Zheng and I’m a senior at Parkway South. I’ve been involved with FIRST robotics since sixth grade, and in middle school, my friends and I formed a team to compete in the FIRST LEGO League. I joined the South robotics team at the beginning of freshman year and worked on both building and programming aspects. I became an admin at the beginning of my junior year, and my roles include overseeing and organizing team meetings, mentoring new members on fundamental robotics skills, and giving additional support to team members who need help. Outside of robotics, my hobbies include playing music, reading, and constantly losing in online chess games.
Business admin

Hey! I'm Anandhu Mahesh and I'm a senior at Parkway South High! I joined PSH Robotics my junior year and it was one of the best decisions; 2 years of FTC and 4 years of First Robotics as a whole. I enjoy working with such a diverse group - culturally, intellectually, and in experience. Currently, I am in the midst of applying to colleges, but I hope to study Finance and Marketing. My team roles encompass a variety of sectors like Building, Business Relations (Admin) and Driving. I'm so thrilled for the season to start and unleash the capabilities of Einstein's Electric Toothbrush!
Construction admin

My name is Drew Parker, I am a senior at Parkway South High School and I have also committed to Missouri University of Science and Technology. Where I will be studying Mechanical Engineering. This is my third year doing FTC and sixth year in First Robotics as a whole. My team roles include, overseeing day to day operations, building, driving, teaching, but also helping other areas out when they need it. In this hard phase of the world we are currently in I am very happy that First Robotics still has the capacity to run competitions and provide us with a season. I am so excited for the season to come.
website designers/creators
Jason Zheng & Ashok Kothamasu
Ethan
WooD

Hello, my name is Ethan Wood. I am a sophomore who has never participated in any after school activities, mostly due to the restrictiveness of Covid-19. Now that school is back in session, I am joining both the Robotics & Debate club/teams. I really don’t know what to expect, but I am excited to participate in this experience. Outside of school, I like conversing with friends and playing games. On the flipside, I also enjoy video and music production, skills of which I may be able to contribute to the team.
Mazin
nadaf

My name is Mazin Nadaf and I’m a freshman at Parkway South High. I attended Oak Brook Elementary for elementary school and later went to Southwest Middle. I am from North Carolina and I moved to Missouri when I was 2 years old. I really enjoy hiking and being in the mountains, hanging out with friends, watching movies, and playing video games. I also love reading, writing, and listening to music. I joined the South High Robotics Team because I was looking for something fun to do that was also technology related. I am very excited to be involved with programming for robotics.
TYLER
SHEPARD

Hello there, my name is Tyler Shepard, and I’m still quite a relatively new member of the PSH Robotics Team. I joined the team last year as a Freshman and have been attending meets and competitions alongside other members. Last year, I was a part of Team 408, which unfortunately didn’t result in our team progressing, but that doesn't mean I didn’t enjoy being a teammate and learning some new skills and techniques. Originally joining earlier this year, I’m now a member of Team 406 as a high school Sophomore, but unfortunately haven’t participated as I can or as much as I would like to.
OWEN
GAO

My name is Owen Gao, and I am a freshman at South High. I like hiking, video games, and playing band music. I joined the Robotics team this year as a CADer because I remembered liking CADing in middle school when I did it for Tech Ed. Outside of robotics, the only extracurricular I currently do is band, in which I play the trumpet. I joined robotics this year because I felt that I needed something to do besides band, and I thought that it sounded interesting. Next year I hope to help with coding the robot and hope that we will be able to work together as a team in the workshop.
CHARITH MYNENi

Hey! I'm Charith Myneni and I'm a junior at Parkway South High. This is my first year doing robotics at South. I have prior experience with coding Python and am capable of using other languages as well, although not as proficiently yet. My team role consists of building and coding. This year's task seems to incorporate a lot of mechanics that require a lot of teamwork. I am going to enjoy working with our diverse team and collaborating on our common goal. I am thrilled for the start of our season and hoping to make the most out of it. Get ready to be awed by the potential of Einstein's Electric Toothbrush!!
claire
VanEssendelft

Hi! I’m Claire VanEssendelft and I’m a junior at Parkway South High! This is my first year of Robotics and I’m learning a lot. I have enjoyed meeting new people and gaining knowledge on how to build a robot. Currently, I’m enrolled in a variety of business clubs and academies as I hope to pursue a career in Marketing. These experiences help me as I develop my role on the team in Business Relations. In addition, I help out with building the robot for this year’s FTC challenge. I’m excited for the season to start and to see our robot in action!
Ethan kliene
Hi, I'm Ethan Kleine. I am relatively new to Robotics and the FTC, and this is my first year with the Parkway South team. Programming, in general, has been my knack when it comes to helping out the team. I've been messing with programming for probably the last 7 years. I started with scratch (literally) and have made my way up to more relevant languages, like python and java. I also spent a fair bit of time messing around with Lego NXT and EV3 on my own. On my previous team, I was the lead developer and completely coded the Teleop controls and Autonomous period code. This year, as I experience coding with a team, and as we look to expand our Autonomous into image classification, I plan to help out along the way. I also plan on taking what I can from my previous FTC experience and apply it to this year.
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