Education United States Project #26102

Youth Robotics Programs in DC, MD, VA - FIRST Rob

by VirginiaFIRST

Youth Robotics Programs in DC, MD, VA - FIRST Rob

Project Report | May 30, 2017
Project Update for STEM Leadership Programs May 17

By Leighann Scott Boland | Director of Development, FIRST Chesapeake

Cheering team members

VirginiaFIRST/FIRST Chesapeake finished another successful robotics’ season in April, with the FIRST Chesapeake District Championship Sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Siegel Center. Fifty-eight of the best and brightest FIRST Robotics Competition teams from DC, Maryland and Virginia competed over 2 ½ days for a spot at the FIRST World Championship in St. Louis. Approximately 12,000 individuals attended the Championship to participate and/or cheer or their favorite team.

The following FRC teams and team members from DC, Maryland and Virginia received recognition at the FIRST World Championship in St. Louis:

Two teams finished in top 10 overall:

7117 - The Blockheads - #6

519 - ED Too - #9

Other rankings:

8498 - Evil Purple Sox - #19

5414 - Tri Robotics - #23

8297 - Geared UP! - #24, Motivate Award finalist

4924 - Tuxedo Pandas - #29

33 - Enigma - #64

Prior to the Championship sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton, FIRST Chesapeake administered eight local District Events in DC, Maryland and Virginia. These events were attended by over 30,000 participants and spectators The livestreaming of the events, sponsored by Northrop Grumman Corporation, was viewed by over 90,000 individuals worldwide. VirginiaFIRST/FIRST Chesapeake, working in collaboration with local partners DC-VA FLL and STEMaction, included FIRST LEGO League Junior Expos at four of the District events. These Expos gave the youngest of our future technology leaders a chance to highlight their knowledge of STEM and problem solving skills to the public.

VirginiaFIRST/FIRST Chesapeake continues to engage students with direct hands on programs using robotics as the "vehicle" to develop the technical and non technical life skills to be successful in future academic and career efforts. Two very impressive young women, and FIRST team members, were featured in WCVE’s Science Matters this Spring. Stacey from Deep Run High School and Molly, captain of both an FTC and FRC team in Richmond, spoke about how FIRST programs have helped them become leaders at their schools and in their communities.

In the past 90 days, VirginiaFIRST/FIRST Chesapeake has successfully

Hosted 8 District Events and 1 Championship over 5 weekends, which included over 1700 volunteer staffing positions.
Witnessed 23 FRC FIRST Chesapeake teams receive an invitation to the World Championship.
Awarded over $16,000 in competitive team grants through the generous sponsorship of Newport News Shipbuilding and Showbest Fixture.
Completed its first year of a pilot team sustainability program in 3 DC high schools.

In the next 90 days, VirginiaFIRST/FIRST Chesapeake will announce venues and dates for more than 15 workshops and competitions for the 2017-2018 season.

The support of individuals and corporations help us continue to do what we do best - build a strong and engaged community of future technology leaders in DC, Maryland and Virginia.

Team Evil Purple Socks and Team Blockheads

Senator Kaine at Championship at VCU

FLL Jr team at Expo, Bethesda

FIRST Chesapeake Board member with a Team mascot

Dedicated Judges at Hampton Roads Event

Links:

Permalink

Feb 24, 2017
Project Update for STEM Leadership Programs Feb 17

By Leighann Boland | Project Leader

Crowds at FTC NOVA

VirginiaFIRST/FIRST Chesapeake continues to engage students with direct hands on programs using robotics as the "vehicle" to develop the technical and non technical life skills to be successful in future academic and career efforts. Just this month we heard from one of our alumni who graduated from the FIRST Robotics Competition program last year. She attended a majority-minority public high school with a math proficiency rating 34 percent below the State average. She credits FIRST programs with providing her with both advanced STEM skills and the confidence to successfully apply to and attend one of the top ranked undergraduate engineering colleges (US News and World Report.) She will be spending her freshman Spring Break in Ghana working on a clean water initiative.as part of Engineers Withouth Borders. It is so rewarding to hear these stories. The great news is that this individual is just one of many alumni who come back to us year after year to let us know how FIRST programs have continued to positively impact their lives - academically, professionally, and in their communities.

In the past 90 days, VirginiaFIRST/FIRST Chesapeake has successfully

hosted local FIRST Robotics Competition high school teams for the 2017 internationally broadcasted Challenge. This kicked off the 6 week build season for 130+ FRC teams in DC, MD and VA.
completed the FIRST Tech Challenge local competition season in Virginia. These events were attended by approximately 8,000 of the best and brightest middle and high school students, as well as coaches, mentors and members of the general public. One of the most inspiring stories of the season involved the accomplishments of a newly formed team from Lucille Brown Middle School. Last year, this urban public school tested 51 points below the State average in Math and 28 points below in Science. These incredible young people worked with a FIRST VISTA to build their inaugural robot in the Fall. They competed in 2 local events and qualified for the semi-finals at both events! The excitement and pride shown by these students was an inspiration to all who watched them compete. We are truly building tomorrow's technology leaders.
organized and promoted 7 local FIRST Robotics Competition events in DC, MD and Virginia for March 2017. The District Championship Sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton will be held at Virginia Commonwealth University in April 2017. The estimated attendance for these events is almost 60,000, with an additional 100,000 on-line live feed views from March 4th-April 8th.

The support of individuals help us continue to do what we do best - build a strong and engaged community of future technology leaders in DC, MD and VA.

FTC Eastern Team member with Mascot

Dedicated Volunteers

In the Pits at FTC Central

Teams using FIRST Chesapeake tool shop

Teams working to "bag and tag" their bot on time

FRC team bot on the field

Links:

Permalink

‹ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

About Project Reports

Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.

If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.