The DC/MD/VA area was well represented at the FIRST World Championships in St Louis. Teams competed on the field as well as judged awards.
The activities for this reporting period can be divided into several distinct areas of DC Metro FIRST activities. The DC, MD and VA FIRST staff and local teams have attended many STEM events at the local and National levels. These outreach events are designed to recruit students, teams, coaches/mentors, and sponsors.
We have a robot driving activity where the students can earn a robot “driver’s license” which draws kids to the exhibit/booth to learn more about STEM, FIRST and robotics. Parents learn more about how their kids, schools and other organization can get involved. They are a great opportunity to take and FIRST and STEM to the local neighborhoods. The hands-on activity is a highlight of many of the STEM Events. As part of support to FIRST Outreach activities, additional parts and kits were purchased this year to provide more and updated FTC and FLL robots. These have been and will continue to be used to demonstrate the actual robot(s) students would be using as part of the FTC and FLL. A complete FTC practice field was purchased and set-up for ant FTC teams to come and test their robots prior to competitions. The kits and field would not be possible with donations raised via Global Giving donations. In particular, we are looking for a sponsor for the game elements for the 2017 - 2018 FTC practice field.
We have hosted several FIRST Alumni Events in the DC, MD and VA area. These are designed to re-engage young adults who participated in FIRST as students. If you are a FIRST Alumni, please join us.The FIRST Alumni Facebook link is: www.facebook.com/groups/FIRSTChesapeakeAlumni/
FIRST events offer opportunities for FIRST alumni, sponsors and the general public to volunteer and help as we try to maximize the number of students and teams supported. If you or friends/co-workers are interested, please contact us about volunteering and/or becoming a coach or mentor. All FIRST events across all four programs are free to the public. These events are a great way for you and your families learn about FIRST. If you are interested in volunteering for FIRST events go to www.firstinspires.org/ways-to-help/volunteer
You can learn more about the FIRST progression of programs at www.firstinspires.org/
We provide training sessions to teams to get the technical and non-technical info they need to be successful teams. This training is critical to developing the hard and soft skills for coaches/mentors as well as students. We are looking for "Named" sponsor to help defer the cost of annual FRC training for 175 - 200 students and mentors.
As part of support to FIRST Outreach activities, additional parts and kits were purchased this year to provide more and updated FTC and FLL robots. These have been and will continue to be used to demonstrate the actual robot(s) students would be using as part of the FTC and FLL. A complete FTC practice field was purchased and set-up for ant FTC teams to come and test their robots prior to competitions. The kits and field would not be possible with donations raised via Global Giving donations. In particular, we are looking for a sponsor for the game elements for the 2017 - 2018 FTC practice field.
The following links provide detailed information including schedules for events.
www.firstchesapeake.orghttp://va-dcfll.org/
Thanks for your previous time and donations. You can make a difference.
