Humanitarian Award Presented to PLTW High School and
Affiliate
NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. (October 13, 2005) – Lexington Homes, Inc. (www.lexhomes.net)
a New Port Richey-based builder of custom homes throughout Florida’s
Suncoast, in partnership with the AmeriLex Foundation, has announced that
the East Lake High School Robotics Program, located in Tarpon Springs,
Florida and the University of South Florida College of Engineering will be
presented the Hunter’s Humanitarian Award in recognition of their profound
acts of charitable leadership and support for the Dolan Family “Extreme
Makeover: Home Edition.”
This past March, ABC-TV’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” selected
Lexington Homes to provide Jamie Dolan and his family with a new home. Dolan
was wounded during a crime at a St. Petersburg RadioShack and as a result of
his wounds, lost sight in both eyes. During the nationally broadcast
episode, Jamie’s son Charlie, age thirteen years-old, commented about his
love of robotics and his hopes of developing a “robotic eye” to allow his
father to regain his sight.
The University of South Florida – College of Engineering and the East Lake
High School Robotics Program joined the efforts of the “Extreme Makeover”
project and collaborated resources to design, direct and assemble a special
robotics room for Charlie allowing him more opportunities to learn the
functions of robotics. In addition, the University of South Florida-College
of Engineering then presented Charlie with a full academic scholarship so he
can study robotic engineering and work toward his goal to develop a robotic
eye to help his father regain his sight.
“Both of these organizations exemplify the spirit of community support so
evident in our area,” said Frank Hibbard, chair of the Hunter’s Humanitarian
Award Committee and mayor of Clearwater, Florida. Their commitment to this
project and their recognized status within our community and nationwide for
engineering and robotics advancements, brought a special meaning and
importance to their support of the Extreme Makeover project. We are honored
to recognize and thank them for their involvement.”
The East Lake High School Robotics Program has just been selected by
AdvanTec Design, a local engineering firm to engineer, design and prototype
a robot with surveillance and SWAT capabilities for an Agency of Homeland
Security. The initial design and engineering process will be a project for
selected East Lake High School students participating in the Project Lead
the Way engineering and FIRST robotic programs. Dubbed the SWAT-BOT, this
robot will have fully-functional on board intelligence, rugged all-digital
architecture for survivability, and rapid deployment, for multi-mission
flexibility and mobility