March 18, 2025
Groveland Student Grey Orr’s Passion for Robotics and Innovation Leads To MIT Acceptance
By Kyle Coppola
Groveland Student Grey Orr’s Passion for Robotics and Innovation Leads To MIT Acceptance
GROVELAND, Fla. — Grey Orr, a standout student from Groveland, has earned a prestigious acceptance to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on Pi Day, March 14—an appropriately symbolic date for a future engineer. Orr is among the area’s most brilliant young minds.
A homeschool student dual-enrolled at Lake-Sumter State College, Orr has maintained an impressive 5.0 GPA while excelling in a variety of fields. His academic success is a testament to his work ethic, intellectual curiosity, and drive to push the boundaries of his knowledge. In addition to his studies, he has been actively involved in competitive robotics, athletics, and community service.
(Grey Orr is among the top young minds in our area. He is a competitive athlete and also competes in competitive robotics.)
Despite not being a full-time student at South Sumter High School, Orr has participated in the school’s football and weightlifting programs, where he contributed the past few years. Orr not only played football but also served as South Sumter High School’s videographer for the football team.
His passion for engineering and innovation is most evident in his leadership of “All Wired Up,” the City of Groveland’s competitive robotics team. As team captain, Orr has spearheaded multiple groundbreaking projects, demonstrating an advanced understanding of automation, coding, and mechanical design. His ability to mentor younger team members and inspire collaboration has been instrumental in the team’s success. All Wired Up consistently puts out some of the best robots in Lake & Sumter County each year.
(Grey Orr, in the red jacket, stands in front of team All Wired Up 8057’s robot that they competed with in Orlando at last year’s Florida Robotics Competition.)
Beyond academics and extracurriculars, Orr has also made a tangible impact in the community. Orr has dedicated his time and expertise to automating the aquaponics system at WaterWell Farms’ community gardens. His work in sustainable food production is one of his bigger accomplishments and it’s something that he is very passionate about.
With a deep passion for robotics and human potential, Orr envisions a future in designing cutting-edge robotics to enhance human capabilities. Whether it be through medical robotics, artificial intelligence, or automation, he hopes to push the boundaries of what is possible and improve lives through technology. His acceptance to MIT is an exciting one and his work at the high school level is just a glimpse into the promising future that lays ahead for this young man.
Grey Orr is an inspiring young person and someone who is destined for greatness. We are very excited for him and his family! Best of luck at MIT!
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
