Student made robots will be invading the vendor floor of NCCE 2016! Mark Ehrhardt, recipient of the Eric Jensen Award at NCCE 2015, and his team will be demonstrating their amazing robots that are sure to blow your mind! Mark will also be presenting a session on:
How To Run A Successful STEM Summer Camp
Thursday, February 25 | 2:00 PM – 2:50 PM | Room: Yakima 1
Description:
Our High School Robotics Club runs a summer STEM Camp teaching robotics, 3D printing, coding and electronics to 3rd through 8th graders. Last year we served over 170 campers and earned over $13,000 for the club! Come learn how to organize, advertise, and run the camp. We will share lots of resources from forms to lessons used in the camp.
What is First WA Neobots Robotics Club and who are the members?
The Neobots FIRST Washington Robotics Club, http://www.neobots2903.org/ is a group of students and mentors based at Arlington High School in Arlington, WA. We currently have 35 student and 8 mentors whose mission is to spread STEM education to our community through robotics and the principals of FIRST.
What are the events the robots compete in?
Our club has a FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) and a FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Team. We competed in three regional events for FTC and will compete in at least two FRC this spring. The events are game based competitions that change every year. For each completion we have a short window of time to design and build a robot to compete. This year’s FRC competition is build around a medieval theme.
What are the educational benefits of having a robotics club in your school?
FIRST Robotics is unique in that we really run the club like a business. Students manage the fundraising, business, and public relations in addition to designing/building the robot and competing. Dean Kamen, one of our founders is fond of saying “its not about the robot”. Its really about students working together to find out how great it is to be involved with STEM.
What are some tips for a teacher that wants to start a robotics club?
It takes time to build it. This is our 8th year. Our club has grown because it’s a place where high school students can hang out together and participate in something they love. They do lots of fun things together all through the year.
We hear you are going to be at NCCE 2016! Where can I see the robots?
Our students will be setting up a booth in the vendor area. We also hope to have them driving the robots around the convention area. I encourage participants to ask questions of the students. Talking to others about the robot and program are an important part of our student’s experience.
Will you be presenting at NCCE 2016 this year?
Yes! I will be presenting a session on running a successful summer stem camp. Our club raised over $13,000 last summer running a three-week camp featuring 3D printing, electronics, robotics and programming with Minecraft. The camp is developed and run by students on the team.
Any parting thoughts you would like to share with our readers?
One of the founding values of FIRST Robotics is called gracious professionalism. We compete hard to build the best robots, but we also support other teams with parts, expertise, respect and kindness. http://www.firstinspires.org/about/vision-and-mission
It’s a value worth spreading in today’s world.
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