In 2006, I founded a FRIST team as a senior in HS. While we had a ton of fun a learned a lot, we barely had a competitive robot and left almost nothing in place to continue the team when we left. I'll honestly say I'm not sure how we made it this far, although it's mostly due to the dedication of students and mentors who have been much more involved than I. Words can not describe how incredibly proud I am of the team. Here are the accomplishments so far of our 10th anniversary season:
Reading District:
-Qualified 1st
-Competed in Quarter Finals
-Received Engineering Excellence Award
Northeastern District:
-Qualified 2nd
-Placed 2nd
-Received Industrial Design Award
New England Championships
-Qualified 3rd
-Competed in Semi Finals
-Ranked 4th of 175 teams in New England
-Qualified for World Championships in St. Louis
Now for the favor. While I believe FIRST is the best organization there is at promoting interest in STEM, I do have 2 major qualms, one is how prohibitively expensive it is to participate. Entering the World Championship alone is $5,000 and that doesn't cover any other expenses such as transport, lodging, food, etc. Many of the students work over 20 hours a week on the robot in addition to their regular school work, so it is very hard to come up with this type of money on such short notice. If interested, please go to http://nashobarobotics.causevox.com/ and consider making a donation. No matter the amount, you will have my utmost gratitude.
Thanks,
abge