Embedded Files
Snap Circuits at Galaxie Library: On April 21 during part of our build meeting, half of our team headed to our local library for an event called Snap Circuits. They helped a librarian teach twelve children about how circuits work and how to use simple “Snap Circuit” kits to try out some projects. The second half of the event also included a robot demo using our team Ollies while speaking to the kids about who we are and what we do as a robotics team. This was a great event, because we were able to teach a group of wonderful kids about STEM and speak with them about reading. We are all passionate readers but don’t often get a chance to speak about it at community events, so this demo at the library was a refreshing change.
NCWIT Aspirations in Computing Award Ceremony: Every year, there is an award ceremony to recognize young women in high school involved STEM activities. The Aspirations in Computing awards are given at multiple different levels, ranging from certificate of distinction to National winner. The event, hosted by the National Center for Women in Technology (NCWIT), serves to recognize and support these young women to continue their efforts in STEM fields, also providing them opportunities to connect with real life STEM professionals, and giving applicants a chance to participate in an internship at one of these companies. This year, four of our members were recognized as winners at different levels. Connie was a recipient of a certificate of distinction, Emily a State-Runner up, Marie a State winner, and Atalanta a National Runner-up. Atalanta was also a keynote speaker at the event.
RoboFest: On April 9, we attended an annual event called RoboFest held at Eden Prairie Center. Our fellow FTC team Mecha Dojo was hosting, and we demoed our robot alongside many FIRST teams from across the state. We had our robot and display set up on a table and allowed children to drive our team Ollies around with the robots from other teams. This was a great demo because we were able to see many great teams while also making an impact on the community. One especially note-worthing experience was when Cori spent ten minutes speaking to a woman who was so fascinated by FIRST that she called her daughter over to check out our display.
Planning Meeting for Uponor Thermostat Project: On March 22, we visited a company called Uponor, which is a local engineering business located right in our home city of Apple Valley. Uponor has 1520 thermostats that they need to resolder and reprogram. Each one takes about 5 minutes to do if you only have one person. They have asked us to develop a plan to effectively resolder and reprogram these thermostats, then follow through with the work. At the meeting on the 22nd, we discussed how the thermostats work, received informational packets on how to resolder and reprogram them, and created action steps to get the project going. We will be creating a project plan during April and physically working on the thermostats in May.
Meeting with Tonya from Million Women Mentors: After school on February 28th, we had the chance to sit down and speak with Christine McGuire and Tonya Tatro—two women who work for a company called Experis Engineering. We started off our meeting by telling the two about our team and how our experience in robotics has changed us. We highlighted some of the major events of our season so far and explained how we use our outreach to fulfill our mission statement of getting more girls interested in STEM. Christine and Tonya then introduced themselves along with their company Experis, and described how their mission statement aligns with ours. They explained that Experis Engineering exists to connect STEM professionals with companies across the globe. We then began to brainstorm ideas with Christine and Tonya about how we could help each other; Tonya told us that through her connections in Experis, she would be able to connect us with over 50 companies all at once. One promising idea that we came up with was a workshop that we could host to create a large network of FTC robotics teams and local STEM companies.
Echo Park Family Engineering Night: On February 24, we attended the Family Engineering Night at Echo Park Elementary School. We were invited there by Monica Foss, who we have worked with in the past for robot demos at Echo Park. We brought along our outreach bots, two Ollies and a MakeBlock, for the students to drive around. We also brought our display including our competition robot, prototype particle shooter, brochures, business cards, and poster board. Students were able to drive the outreach bots around the gym floor while parents looked at our display and we answered their questions.
News Article for Sun ThisWeek: After our performance at the Minnesota State FIRST Tech Challenge Championship, a local newspaper called “Sun ThisWeek” reported on us as well as teams from across the school district. Teams from Lakeville and the Apple Valley-Rosemount-Eagan school districts did very well, as the article discusses, and four of us have moved onto the North Super Regional Championship, which is half of the teams from Minnesota.
District 196 STEM Career Fair: On February 16, our team attended the District 196 STEM Career Fair to demonstrate our robot and promote FIRST, STEM, and robotics to the many students and adults that came. The event was held at our school, Apple Valley High, and was the largest STEM Career Fair that the school district has ever had, with an estimated 2500 people in attendance. This number is amazing as there are about 1600 students at our own high school. Additionally, there were over 260 presenters from various STEM fields, each with a booth in the gymnasium so students could walk the fair and speak with STEM professionals.
Testifying at Minnesota House: On February 15, we returned to the Minnesota State Capitol to testify for the three million dollar STEM education bill. This time, however, we were testifying for its sister bill: an identical piece of legislation that is in the House of Representatives instead of the Senate. We were invited there by Representative Sondra Erickson, the author of the House bill. She introduced the bill, then had a Project Lead the Way representative testify regarding the possible applications of the grants. We followed up by first speaking about our robotics team, then detailing our experiences in robotics and the E3 STEM education program at our school.
Robot Demo at C.H. Robinson: On February 11 (the day of the Minnesota State Championship), we visited a company called C.H. Robinson. We had met with a C.H. Robinson representative before for a marketing review, so it was our second time this season connecting with them. We invited a fellow all-female FTC team, the Rebellious Robots, from our local middle school. We thought this was a great way to help a team we mentor start to build their network of STEM professionals. We gave three presentations.
Helping the Metal Melters for Minnesota State: On February 7th, Barbara and Connie went to help the Metal Melters at Apple Valley Middle School a week before the state competition. They gave them advice on how to fix their ball shooter and how to attach the foam on their button pushers properly. They shared the design done by the team’s 3D modeler, Emily, that attaches to a linear servo and allows for easy attachment of foam or anything else. Barbara also took a look at their poster board and gave them a few tips.
Testifying at Minnesota Senate: On February 6, the entire team visited the Minnesota State Senate building. At 2:30 p.m., we met with Senator Clausen in his office to discuss his STEM education bill. It would establish a grant program for three million dollars where high schools could apply to create programs with various STEM courses. We also discussed our season so far and what bills he’s been working on for this congressional session. At 3:00 p.m., we headed down to a committee room for the Minnesota State Senate. Senator Clausen began by introducing the bill and speaking about his reasons for authoring it. He then turned it over to us so we could testify to the committee about the profound impact STEM education has had on our lives.
Rosemount Elementary STEM Night: On February 2, Atalanta and Cori attended the Rosemount Elementary School STEM Night. They brought along the two team Ollies and one MakeBlock robot. Duchess Steele, our competition robot, was unable to make it because the rest of the team was using her at the Thursday night build meeting. They allowed students to drive the robots around while parents looked at the display of information on robotics.
Second Design Review at Precision Gasket Company: On February 1, we went to a robot design review at a company called Precision Gasket Company or PGC. We had met with them on December 8 right before our second qualifier (Burnsville) for advice and ideas regarding our robot design. State was just around the corner for this design review, so we showed them our conveyor belt and shooter prototypes.
Helping the Crushbots with their Judge’s Interview: On January 29, the Crushbots (another FTC team) visited Apple Valley High School during our meeting to talk about their Engineering Notebook and Judge’s Interview. Cori and Emily met with them, while the rest of the team continued with building the robot. They spoke with them first about how state works and answered their specific questions. After that, the Crushbots gave a practice Judge’s Interview. The Maidens then provided some advice on ways to make it better and condense time for the 15 minute slots at state. Finally, they talked about Engineering Notebooks. The Crushbots showed Cori and Emily their Notebook, and the Maidens talked with them about ways to organize parts of it to make it more clear.
Helping the Metal Melters with their Robot and Notebook: On January 24, Connie and Cori visited Valley Middle School to work with fellow FTC team the Metal Melters. Connie helped them with their robot, specifically regarding aspects like their conveyor belt, autonomous strategy, and space conservation. The main problem she helped them tackle was that they didn’t know how to attach their conveyor belt to the robot. She nudged them in the right direction, then stepped back to let them figure most parts out for themselves. Cori, on the other hand, aided them with their Engineering Notebook.
Cedar Park Elementary Family Engineering Night: On January 19, half of the team went to the Cedar Park Elementary School Family Engineering Night. (The rest of the team was at our Thursday build meeting.) We brought two Ollies and a MakeBlock robot to have children drive around and play with. Our competition robot, Duchess Steele, also made an appearance. We had a table with our display, brochures, and business cards for students and their parents to look at. Next to the table was a ten foot square of section off floor for kids to drive the robots around in.
Representing FIRST Ladies and Volunteering at St. Peter: On January 14, Cori went to a Qualifier in St. Peter, Minnesota to represent FIRST Ladies and volunteer for the tournament. In the morning from 7:30-10:00 a.m., she helped at the Informational Desk where teams were checking in and asking questions about the day. Starting at 10:00 a.m. and going until 2:00 p.m., Cori ran a FIRST Ladies table where she spoke with students, parents, and coaches about the organization. She had registration forms and brochures to explain what FIRST Ladies is and how to become a member.
Helping the Nerd Herd with their Engineering Notebook: On January 9, the Nerd Herd sent us an email requesting help with their Engineering Notebook. The Nerd Herd is a fellow FTC team that we met at our Burnsville Qualifier. They weren’t competing, but instead were walking around the pits speaking with teams. Our Engineering Notebook manager, Cori, spoke with their non-technical lead about their notebook and marketing aspects of their team. She also offered to provide any further advice they may need.
Presentation to AVID Class: On December 23, we volunteered to speak to two AVID classes at our high school about how to structure, format, and present sponsorship pitches. AVID stands for Advanced Via Individual Determination. It is “a program to prepare students in the academic middle for four-year college eligibility. It has a proven track record in bringing out the best in students, and in closing the achievement gap.” The ninth grade AVID classes are working on a variety of projects to improve areas around the school and will be making pitches for support to the school administration and local businesses. We visited their classroom to give an example presentation, as though we were presenting to a company.
Marketing Review with C.H. Robinson: On December 21, we met with Micheli Controneo from C.H. Robinson discuss our team brand specifically in regards to our pit, buttons, Engineering Notebook, and most of all our Promote Video. Last season, we won the Promote Award at state (given to the team who can create the best 60 second clip answering a prompt from FIRST). This season, however, we were stuck for ideas and in need of advice. Micheli spoke with us about how we need to play off of two things: our team’s established brand and media forms people are already familiar with. We talked to him about using animation this year and how he uses Adobe After Effects to create his own animated videos. We greatly appreciated the advice that he provided and plan on inviting him back sometime this season.
Robot Design Review with Uponor Engineers: On December 20, a group of Uponor employees making up part of the company’s Design and Production department visited our school for a design review. The Regal Kiwis, a fellow FTC team from our high school, were also present with their own robot. We spoke with them about our game challenge this year and how we’ve chosen to design our robot. They provided advice on our transportation mechanism and launching mechanism, but the main focus of the meeting was the Regal Kiwis because their competition was coming up sooner and they needed more help. We were very grateful to make this connection and get advice.
Helping the Crushbots with CAD: On Monday, December 12 we received a message on Twitter from a fellow FTC team called the Crushbots. We met them at an event called Girl Time at the Works Museum where we both demoed our robots and spoke with young children in the community. They also attended the Eagan qualifier, and their pit was right next to ours so we were able to speak with them quite a lot. The Crushbots had heard that we did a lot of CAD and 3D printing, and they wanted to know if we had any tips on getting started. Emily sent them a message back detailing how we as a team got started with CAD.
Robot Design Review at Precision Gasket Company: On December 7th, we went to a company called PGC (Precision Gasket Company) for a robot design review. We worked with them last season multiple times in the form of design reviews where we would visit their facilities and talk about our design while they gave constructive criticism. For this design review specifically, we focused on our particle scorer as that is our only mechanism that is still in the works. We discussed the transportation mechanism in particular while examining various designs of ramps, conveyor belts, and such.
FIRST Ladies at Columbia Heights Qualifier: On December 3, three of our team members, Atalanta, Barbara, and Emily, attended the Columbia Heights qualifier to represent FIRST Ladies. FIRST Ladies is a community of women in FIRST robotics. As we are the regional partner of FIRST Ladies, we decided to set up a booth with business cards, brochures, registration forms, and a banner to get team members, mentors, and coaches interested and sign up to be part of the program. The event was super fun especially because we were able to collaborate with one of our favorite FTC rookie teams, 11872 Visible Spectrum. They took over the booth during the first part of the competition and our three team members came and managed the booth for the rest of the time.
AVHS STEM Pathway Event: On November 14th, the entire team attended an event held at our school, Apple Valley High School. The AVHS STEM Pathway event was put on to showcase the efforts that the school has gone through to improve learning through STEM. It featured many different STEM displays, such as Rube Goldberg machines, CPR demonstrations, and even an animal science booth from the School of Environmental Studies. The event was open to the general public, and many parents and children attended. During the event, we let children drive our competition robot Duchess Steel, as well as our school’s Spheros and our team’s Ollies and MakeBlock robot.
Minnesota Science Teachers Convention: For three hours on October 29th, Atalanta, Barbara, and Emily volunteered to be guides at the three-day Science Teachers Convention in Minneapolis. The venue was huge, as it was a gathering of science teachers from all across the nation. While they were there, they led and showed people to different locations just in case anyone got lost and was unsure of where to go. They also had a lot of fun checking out the booths that showcased many STEM incorporated products and gadgets. Some of the booths they saw included a galaxy star dome, a Texas Instrument calculator session, and a rock display.
AVHS Robotics Presentation at Uponor: On October 18th, Cori and Marie went to Uponor to speak with them about renewing our partnership. They represented our team alongside people from each of the other FIRST robotics teams at Apple Valley High School: Attack on Robot, Knights of the Valley, and Regal Kiwis. To begin, Cori helped present to a group of Uponor’s highest executives including their President, Vice President, CFO, CIO, Board of Directors, and more. The group talked about FIRST, robotics at AVHS, the partnership we’ve developed with Uponor, and how that partnership can continue. The second presentation was given to a larger group of Uponor’s employees with more specific information about the program and a greater focus on how they as individuals at Uponor can help through design reviews and volunteering. Both Cori and Marie helped with this presentation, speaking to who we are and our impact on the community.
Outreach Help for FTC Team 10211 Hercules: Recently, we received an email from our fellow FTC Team 10211 Hercules asking about our outreach. They were requesting some tips and tricks based on our experience, specifically examples of what types of outreach we did last season. We were happy to help them out by sending them a pdf of our outreach summary (an updated version of our outreach sign from competitions last season) and a copy of the outreach presentation we gave at the Minnesota FTC Kickoff. This presentation detailed what outreach is, why we do outreach, what types of events qualify as outreach, how teams get outreach, how much outreach to do, what the Connect Award is, how to present outreach, how to prioritize events, and how to use social media as a tool for outreach.
Engineering Notebook Mentoring at Valley Middle School: On the 27th of September, Cori (our Engineering Notebook manager) went down to our feeder middle school, Valley Middle to speak with the new FTC teams that were formed there. At the Back-to-School Night for VMS, 60 students signed up for their FIRST robotics program, which helped to create many FIRST LEGO League (FLL) teams and three FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) teams. Cori specifically spoke with representatives from the new FTC teams about their Engineering Notebooks.
Minnesota Advocacy Conference: On September 24th, our team went to the first ever Minnesota Advocacy Conference for FIRST robotics. It was hosted by FIRST Robotics Competition team 1816 Green Machine of Edina. There we listened to multiple different presenters, including State Senator Melisa Franzen, AP Government teacher at Edina (Valley View) Middle School Erik Anderson, and STEM integration specialist for the Minnesota Department of Education Doug Paulson. After that, we went up and presented on our own experiences in government and answered any questions that teams had for us. We spoke specifically to how we’ve testified for STEM education bills three times at the Minnesota state government, were presented with a Senate resolution for our work by Senator Clausen, and attended the FIRST National Advocacy Conference this summer in Washington. D.C..
Girl Time at the Works Museum: On September 17th, we demoed our robot at the Works Museum for an event called Girl Time. We were able to have three team members there at all time, since Cori and Connie stayed the whole time while Barbara attended in the morning before switching out with Atalanta at noon.
Apple Valley High School Robotics Informational Night: During the second week of school, we held a Robotics Informational Night alongside our fellow FTC teams at Apple Valley High School: the Regal Kiwis and Attack on Robot. The meeting was for AVHS students interested in joining and parents interested in mentoring robotics teams. All the teams presented what FIRST was and how it had impacted their lives. After the presentation, we divided into two groups: students and parents. The students followed the team members out into the hallway for a robot demonstration, while the parents stayed behind with the mentors to have a Q&A Panel. At the end of the night, we collected contact information for each of the students in order to follow up later on.
FTC Minnesota Kickoff: On September 7th, our team attended the Minnesota FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) season kickoff. It was at the University of Minnesota and ran from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.. We also had the opportunity to present to other teams on a topic of our choosing during breakout sessions before the game reveal. Our section, titled “Outreach; Tips, Tricks, and Strategies,” was presented to lots of students and coaches from FTC teams from across the state. We talked about what outreach is, why we do outreach, what types of events qualify as outreach, how teams get outreach, how much outreach to do, what the Connect Award is, how to present outreach, how to prioritize events, and how to use social media as a tool for outreach. In addition, we ran a booth for FIRST Ladies.
Apple Valley High School Back-to-School Night: During our high school’s Back-to-School Night, we ran a booth promoting the FIRST robotics program. In the cafeteria, the school had an activity fair where each sport, arts program, and activity were able to market their programs. Alongside our fellow FTC teams, the Regal Kiwis and Attack on Robot, we spoke with students and their parents about who we are, what we do, and what the major benefits of FIRST are. We had three tables, one for each team, with brochures and information at each.
Minnesota State Fair: On August 25, 2016, we had the opportunity to attend STEM day at the Minnesota State Fair on behalf of High Tech Kids, the lead organization of FLL and FTC in MN. We were excited to come back again, as we did this same event in our last season, to talk to children and adults alike about FIRST and how to get involved in robotics. Alongside FTC teams 3387 I.C.E, 7588 The Pride, and 10617 Mechatech, we demonstrated our robot from the Res Q season. It was great to see a large interest in the robots as many visitors wanted to drive them. Just in case our robot broke down, as it did last year, we also brought two Ollies. All in all, we had a great time demonstrating at the Minnesota State Fair and are enthusiastic about coming again next year.
GOFIRST Robotics Summit: In partnership with GOFIRST, a student-run organization whose mission is to support the FIRST robotics program in Minnesota, we attended their event at the University of Minnesota. During this event, we presented to a group of mentors, coaches, and other robotics teams. We taught the basics of communication and how it can be applied to robotics, especially to outreach events. Later, we participated on a panel to answer any questions teams had.
Skyline Project Management Session: On July 28 from 9:00 a.m. to noon, Cori attended a project management session at a local company called Skyline Displays while the rest of the team was back at Apple Valley HIgh School hosting our summer Arduino programming camp. She attended the event alongside representatives from robotics teams across the district in both FIRST Tech Challenge and FIRST Robotics Competition. Speakers from Skyline presented throughout the day and the students worked in small groups on various projects.
Arduino Programming Summer Camp: From Tuesday to Thursday, July 26th to July 28th, we were busy teaching young girls in 3th to 6th grade at our Maiden Voyage Arduino Programming Summer Camp. The camp, sponsored through an AspireIT grant, was put on through a partnership between the Iron Maidens and AdvanceIT MN in order to get girls interested in programming, engineering, and electrical fields. With this introduction course to Arduino and related programming, the girls completed various projects with instructions we gave. These projects ranged from making a light blink to programming the Arduino to play a song. In addition to learning about Arduinos, we also had two separate talks with them about “Girls in STEM” where we discussed gender roles and how to advocate for themselves and their peers. On the final day, we brought in four STEM professionals for a panel about their careers and how these girls can apply what they learned to their lives.
Stratasys 3D Printed Parts Blog: Before we attended the World Championship last season, we were asked by Stratasys (a company that many FIRST teams buy their 3D printers from) to write a guest blog post on their website about how 3D printing was used by teams at Worlds. We were honored to do so on behalf of FIRST robotics teams everywhere and quickly set to work once in St. Louis for the competition. We walked around the pits, speaking to every team we could about how they utilized 3D printed parts in their robot design. As we later stated in our blog post, “we were hard-pressed to find a team that didn’t utilize this exciting technology in some way.” We recorded everything that other teams told us, and later gathered that the information together in the post which we then sent off to Stratasys.
FIRST Ladies Conference: On June 26th, the team attended the first conference in Minnesota for FIRST Ladies, a community created by FIRST alumni for girls participating in FIRST robotics. There, we had the opportunity to get to know other teams and alumni. The conference began with several icebreaker activities that were played in groups and then discussed, such as the “tower challenge” in which each group had to build the tallest tower using only note cards and tape. The alumni explained the importance of the games, and how they were statistically proven to improve brainstorming sessions when played beforehand. After the games concluded, everyone moved on to different groups led by FIRST alumni, each focused on a different topic, such as graphic design or programming. The alumni introduced the topic, and the groups had the chance to discuss it with the alumni and ask questions. After the discussions concluded, the groups were brought together again, and the FIRST alumni gathered to form a small panel.
National Advocacy Conference in Washington, D.C.: We decided to kick this summer off with an exciting, educational, and inspiring trip to Washington, D.C. by participating in the third annual FIRST National Advocacy Conference hosted by FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) team 27 Team Rush. We were not only the sole FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) team present, but also the only all-female team, which made us proud to represent these two very important elements of our team. The first day of our trip was filled with sightseeing; from Capitol Hill to the Washington Monument, from the Smithsonian to the Lincoln Memorial we saw all that we could. On the second and third days, we partook in the conference portion of our trip where we learned about the basics of government, FIRST’s legislative goals on Capitol Hill, and how to speak with legislators. We also worked in collaboration with FRC teams Green Machine 1816, Duluth East Daredevils 2512, and KnightKrawler 2052 to create outlines for our meetings with senators and representatives the next day. Once the fourth day arrived, it was finally time for us to go to work on Capitol Hill advocating for full funding of Section IV, Part A of the Every Student Succeeds Act which would put money into mentor-based STEM activities in schools (similar to our own robotics team).
Meeting with Senator Clausen: On May 26, we were invited to a meeting with Senator Clausen. Last season, we had worked closely with the Senator on a bill to put three million dollars into STEM education for students across the state of Minnesota. We had gone into the Minnesota State Capitol twice to testify on behalf of the bill and even helped author an amendment. It, unfortunately, did not pass Congress. The Senate, however, still wanted to recognize us for our work and also for our award at Worlds so they issued a Senate Proclamation in honor of what we had done. Senator Clausen presented us with this proclamation in the principal’s conference room at our school, and we were beyond honored. It was something that we had never expected or even considered as a possibility, and that made it all the more special.
Radio Interview with WCCO: After school on May 24, we went to one of our school’s conference rooms to meet with a radio host—Jordana Green—from a station called WCCO. We had done a television interview with WCCO a few weeks earlier and were asked back, this time to do a radio interview. We spoke with her on the phone about who we are, what FIRST is, the Connect Award we won at Worlds, our mission statement, the RES-Q game challenge, and our trip this summer to Washington, D.C.. The interview was then aired at 10:30 that night to all of the WCCO listeners. We thought this was a great way not only to reach out to the public, but also to reconnect with WCCO after our first interview.
State of the City Address: After our successful RES-Q season, the mayor of Apple Valley invited us to the State of the City address, in which she honors the achievements of our city from the past year and details what is to come. We, along with two FRC teams from the city, drove our robot down the center of the room and were honored by Mayor Mary. She spoke about our accomplishments and how this is setting not only our team up for success, but also our entire community. This was an incredible experience and a huge honor. In our city, Mayor Mary is a household name equivalent with trust and kindness. To have her speak of us with such kind words was an enormous honor. We loved being able to reach out into the community of Apple Valley, Minnesota and be recognized for our season.
FOX 9 Interview: On May 23, we were invited to speak on FOX 9 morning show. This was yet another interview set up for us by our fabulous sponsor, Uponor. Erin Woodward, Uponor’s community relations head, appeared on air with us to help explain how our corporate sponsors have aided us throughout the season. In the Twin Cities, Channel 9 is one of the most viewed morning stations, if not the most viewed. We spoke about who we are, what FIRST is, the impact robotics has had on our lives, our success, and our future goals. This was a great way to speak to thousands of people all at the same time about FIRST and our team. It was a fabulous way to efficiently spread the word of STEM and robotics.
AVHS Coding Event: On Saturday, May 21, three of the Maidens volunteered at a programming workshop being hosted at our school, Apple Valley High. We knew some of the coordinators, and they set us up at various stations to help elementary schoolers from around the district learn basic programming skills. At one station, two of the Maidens used iPads, a drag-and-drop app, and small robots to help kids figure out how basic programming works. It was a great way to reach out into the community and show kids that anyone can code. It was also very fun to be able to watch as kids figured out the code and saw their own success.
Uponor Volunteer Fair: On May 19, we attended the Uponor Volunteer Fair. Uponor is one of our largest sponsors, and this was an event held to promote community activism among their employees. We were honored to be invited on behalf of FIRST, High Tech Kids (the organization that runs FTC in Minnesota), and Apple Valley High School robotics. At the event, we spoke to Uponor employees about volunteer opportunities for FIRST through High Tech Kids and mentoring opportunities at Apple Valley High for up-and-coming robotics teams. FIRST and its robotics teams are always in need of volunteers, so this was a great way to convey that need to STEM professionals. We took down many names of people who wish to volunteer not only with the new robotics teams we hope to create at Apple Valley High this season but also with High Tech Kids at FIRST robotics events across the state of Minnesota.
Second Makers Faire Demonstration: On May 14, we attended the Makers Faire at the Minnesota State Fair Grounds to demo our robot on behalf of High Tech Kids. High Tech Kids is the organization that runs FTC, FLL, and FLL, Jr. in Minnesota. They coordinate outreach events and tournaments. We were there alongside FTC team 6389 the Lazybotts, allowing kids to drive our robots around on a game field from last season’s challenge, RES-Q. We spoke with the kids and their parents about FIRST and how to get involved. It was a great way to reach out to the community and show people who are interested what FIRST is about.
Glacier Hills Elementary School Science Night: In the evening of May 13, we finished off the day with a third outreach event at Glacier Hills Elementary School for their Science Night. We demoed our robot in the library of the school alongside FTC team the Q is Silqent and FRC team Cobalt Catalysts. We had our display of the posterboard, handouts, the Engineering Notebook, and signs to show people what our team does. Along with this, we demoed Zumo Bots borrowed from our school as well as the robot we built for the Res-Q game challenge of last season, Lady Steel. We spoke to the young students and their parents walking by, telling them about the impact FIRST and robotics have had on our lives. We made up a game with the children where they had to try to keep Lady away from Cori and Barbara as the two Maidens tried to put climbers on the robot. Atalanta showed the children how to drive our robot while Connie, Emily, and Marie demoed the Zumo Bots. We had a great time talking to all of the students and making them laugh as Cori and Barbara chased the robot around. We had attended this event last year, and it was wonderful to continue our impact on this community.
Makers Faire Demonstration: Right after the awesome interview with 93X, the rest of the Maidens went back to school while Marie (who is mostly homeschooled) attended the 2016 Makers Faire to demonstrate our robot and interact with students whom got to attended the faire before it officially began the following day. High Tech Kids (the organization that runs FTC in Minnesota) was there presenting as well, so Marie was able to have the robot drive around a game field and let kids drive it. She met a bunch of awesome, creative kids, some of which gave her a few ideas as to what this year's robot could have. Marie even spoke with a couple of kids who were or are currently a part of a FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) team.
93X Interview: On the morning of May 13, we traveled to Minneapolis, Minnesota to speak on the radio. Uponor, mentioned in the “WCCO Interview” outreach summary, also connected us with this interview. The station is called 93X and is known for playing heavy metal music. (We think they might’ve been so excited to meet us because our team name is similar to that of the band Iron Maiden.) They asked us about our team, the Connect Award we won at the 2016 World Championship, and FIRST. We had a fabulous time with their hosts. It was different from our normal interviews because we were able to use sassier humor than usual since that appealed to their audience of heavy metal fans. For example, at one point, they asked, “Is this an excused absence?” Connie responded, “We’re just skipping.” The listening audience was an estimated 275,000 people, and there were 600+ watching us live over Periscope. It was great to be able to reach out to an audience that we don’t typically have the opportunity to interact with.
Sun Interview: On May 6, we met at Apple Valley High School with a reporter from a local newspaper called SunThisWeek. They are a well-respected organization with thousands of households in their audience. The reporter wanted to learn about the Connect Award we won at the World Championship, our team, our mission, FIRST, and FTC. We talked to her about each aspect of our team and FIRST, speaking specifically to what a great opportunity it is for students. When the article was printed, we were on the front cover for Apple Valley. Outside of our city, we were also on second and third pages of the paper. This was a fabulous way to spread the word of what we’re doing in the community through a means that we don’t usually have the opportunity: print form.
WCCO Interview: After returning from the 2016 World Championship in St. Louis, we reached out to our sponsors asking to be put in touch with their Public Relations people to help get our name further out in the community. One sponsor in particular, Uponor, jumped on this and helped us establish an interview with WCCO, a well-respected news station with hundreds of thousands of viewers in our community. WCCO is the most viewed news station in Minnesota. On May 4, we spoke with two representatives from the station about our team and FIRST, explaining how FTC works and what the Connect Award we won at Worlds means. This story was then on their evening television show and posted on their social media. This was a great way to have a large impact on the community in terms of spreading the word of robotics and FIRST without having to speak individually to each of the hundreds of thousands of viewers across Minnesota.
Talon Interview: On May 4, three of us met with a representative from our school newspaper, the Talon. She had heard about us winning the Connect Award at the 2016 World Championship and wanted to do a story. She asked about the competition, our outreach, our robot, and FIRST. The article was then posted to the Talon’s website and social media. The story talked about our season, our mission, and the impact we’ve had on the community. It was a great opportunity to explain the details of what we do as a team. Our school is very supportive of us, and it is always wonderful to reach out to our teachers and peers.
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