Longwood's Robolions shares the thrill of robotics with special needs students

It was May 2024, the final game of the Longwood Unified Basketball season, and the pressure was on — not for the players, but for the high school’s robotics team.

Members of the RoboLions (Team 564) had been given a special assignment by Mark Gordon, head coach of Unified Basketball, a mix of players with and without disabilities. They were instructed to build a device that would allow sports-loving senior Nick Meyer — who has cerebral palsy and typically tracked stats from the sidelines — to score a basket.

At the start of the game, a metal machine on wheels was positioned at the free-throw line, a basketball perched on top.

Behind it was Meyer in his wheelchair, with an Xbox controller.

“It was the longest 10 seconds of any of the robotics kids’ lives,” recalled Jennifer Stehle, a math teacher at the high school in Middle Island and one of the RoboLions coaches. “We’re watching, just going ‘Please go in, please go in.’ ”

Meyer pressed a button and a catapult launched the ball 12 feet high toward the hoop. When it bounced off the backboard and dropped into the net, the gym erupted with cheers.

The basket helped secure a 62-59 victory against Miller Place’s Unified team, but its impact went far beyond the scoreboard.

“It makes you feel good and part of the team,” said Meyer, now 23 and attending a support program for adults with disabilities. “[Attending Longwood and being part of the team] had a big impact. It was amazing. Amazing.” 

TURNING POINT

Meyer wasn’t the only one moved that day.

“It was emotional for me,” said Hitendra Bedacie, 16, a junior and member of Team 564, who joined robotics in the sixth grade. “We put so much work into giving this kid an opportunity to do something he’s never done before. I was very overcome with joy for him.”

And amid all the celebrating, Stehle and others heard Unified players on the sidelines shout, “That was the coolest!”

That moment became a turning point.

Stehle said the players’ excitement seemed to have as much to do with the technology as with the sunk shot, and she wondered whether there was a way to incorporate the district’s disabled students not only in sports, but as builders, programmers and engineers. How could they make the robotics team truly inclusive?

They soon had their answer.

Stehle and RoboLions co-coach John Hirdt discovered Unified Robotics, a nonprofit that promotes inclusive robotics with registered teams in Massachusetts, Florida and Texas, among other states. 

While most Unified teams build their bots with Legos, the Longwood coaches pushed for their Unified students to qualify for the same type of competitions as those on Team 564, which means using metal machining and tools.

After approval from the Middle Island district and fundraising by the team, Longwood’s Unified Robotics team began in fall 2025, with 31 students. Longwood and Brentwood are the only school districts on Long Island with Unified Robotics teams, according to the nonprofit’s website.

GAINING SKILLS, FRIENDS

Many of the new club members had never even touched a screwdriver before and needed to be taught the basics of “righty tighty, lefty loosey,” the coaches said. Now, there are students turning Allen keys, cutting open and soldering wires and running entire electronic systems on bots.

“We see students whose parents didn’t even realize they had a really good set of building and mechanical skills,” said Hirdt, a math teacher. Even with varying disabilities in the group, including cognitive impairment, he said, “It’s definitely something they’re connecting with. They remember the lessons from the previous day and are able to build off of it. There’s also this element of moving machinery that makes it very tangible, it’s visual.”

The coaches attribute the school’s Unified Robotics’ success and enthusiasm to the fact that it’s largely driven by the 54 students in grades nine to 12 who make up RoboLions Team 564. Hirdt and Stehle said they’ve taken on roles as instructors, mentors and, above all, friends.

“I can honestly say that it’s the reason I come to work every day,” Stehle said of the bond. “These kids wouldn’t know each other otherwise, but in the hallway, they recognize them and they’ll give high fives.”

Team 564 is part of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a global robotics organization, and its program revolves around the annual Finger Lakes Regional competition in Rochester in March. Last year, the team won the FIRST Impact Award at the Long Island Regional at Hofstra University in Hempstead, the contest’s most prestigious honor, and advanced to the championship in Houston, the largest K-12 robotics event in the world, with roughly 50,000 attendees from more than 50 countries.

This year, the team took home the Gracious Professionalism Award “for excellence and character,” fittingly, as they’ve spent the rest of their time visiting students in the district and advocating for robotics.

BEYOND COMPETITION

But Team 564’s focus extends beyond competition.

Members mentor younger students by coaching a league with students in first through sixth grade, the junior team, and the Unified students during ninth period.

The Unified team’s main project for the year: building a more durable, versatile version of the ball-launching machine used by Meyer. The goal is to create a permanent device for gym classes and Unified sports.

In addition to fully assembling the bot, piecing parts together like a large erector set, they’ll have full control over its name and color — which are yet to be determined.

Another plan is in motion for a bot with an eye movement sensor, providing an alternative for people who cannot use their arms or fingers.

“I truly believe that Unified is the greatest thing to come out of this program,” said James Tully, 17, a junior who’s been involved in robotics since first grade and designed the bot they are working on through an intricate Computer-Aided Design, or CAD, program.

“All these kids are starting from zero, and it’s very rewarding to see them actually be able to build something for the first time and then use it, and then see the smiles on all their faces. We want everyone to have a spot here.”

SHARING THE JOYSTICK

That sense of possibility is on display in the Longwood High School classroom where the robotics team practices. During a recent session, a drive-train-powered machine named Lavar sped across the floor, scooping up a dozen yellow balls and shooting them out like a pitching machine.

Tully and Bedacie operated the team’s mechanical pride and joy, designed for competitions in Bethpage, Rochester and at Hofstra University this year.

“It’s a rush when you’re behind those controls,” Bedacie said, beaming. It’s a feeling he shared recently with Unified students when he taught them to use a joystick to drive the bots around. “I talked to this one kid who never had interest in driving a car at all. After driving that robot, with a big smile, he asked for a pen and paper, drew himself a license and signed it. He said ‘I just drove a robot. Now I have a license and I can go out in the world and drive.’ ”

The program has been especially powerful for Tully and Bedacie, both of whom have personal connections to those with disabilities.

Tully’s father and aunt work in special education, and he’s part of Longwood’s Unified Golf team, where he works with students of varying abilities, from high-functioning to nonverbal.

Tully said he’d like the program to spread to more districts.

“I’d love to see this almost as widespread as our general FIRST robotics is,” he said.

Bedacie grew up with disabled family members, and he saw early on how challenging it could be for them to understand and process information. When he learned of this initiative, he knew he wanted to be significantly involved.

“The idea of these kids having an interest in a piece of metal and asking ‘How does it work? What can it do? How is it turning?’ — it’s amazing,” he said. “I just want to make sure it’s possible for everyone, that no one’s left out.”

LASTING IMPACT

Nearly two years later, Mary Meyer, Nick’s mother, still feels the impact that Longwood Central School District, its basketball program and its robotics team had on her son.

“It took our breath away,” she said. “Any parent of a disabled or special needs child is just amazed at what others do to make them feel included and part of the whole picture. They showed him anything is possible.”

Her only regret, she said, was that Nick graduated before he could have joined Unified Robotics: “He would’ve wanted to help make someone else be successful like that,” she said.

Stehle collected quotes from some of the students about being on the Unified team.

They included: “I love building robots” and “I love driving the robot.” Some didn’t need words: A nonverbal student offered two thumbs-up “with the biggest smile,” she said.