[Jimmy Nichols]

Team Hammond is saddened to announce the retirement of its founding mentor Bill Beatty. Words cannot describe the impact he and his family have had on the program for the past 17 years in every capacity. We will miss you Mr Bill.

One of the greatest life lessons Mr. Beatty has taught our team is that with hard work and a little elbow grease, we can overcome any obstacle. While the road ahead may be challenging, we are determined to do whatever is necessary to not only keep 71 thriving, but to grow our presence within our community and throughout FIRST.

We are lucky to have such outstanding students, parents and mentors who are dedicated to keeping the dream alive. Our sponsors and local community have gone above and beyond in their efforts to help our team in the past, and we have no doubt that our community can, and will pull together during our transition.

We were born from Beatty International. However, we also represent our school city and the many local businesses that have contributed to us throughout the years. We represent the city and all that is good within it. We represent the outstanding students from our school district, who are the heart and soul of what we do. And--most importantly--we represent FIRST.

Thank you to all of those who continue to support us and for all those we hope to inspire in the future.

Here ya go