IN THE COMMUNITY

Our objective in doing this is to get young kids interested in science and technology. Besides just building robots, our team often goes out into the community to spread the word of FIRST. We follow the founder of FIRST Robotics, Dean Kamen, vision in spreading engineering throughout the world. The vision of first is; "To transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology heroes." (Dean Kamen, founder of FIRST).

During our outreach events we will typically bring our robot which has competed in a previous FIRST Robotics Competition and have it displayed and operational. We also bring a smaller VEX Robot so we can give an opportunity for children to drive the robot and see what students participating in the FIRST Robotics Competition goes through during a competition.

Our team has been involved with schools and organizations such as:

- Girl Scouts

- The Bakken Museum

- The University of Minnesota

- Olsen Middle School

If you would like us to make an appearance at an event, please contact us.

GIRL SCOUTS

The Herobotics team visited Camp Lockeslea and displayed several robots to Girl Scouts ranging from ages 8-12 from 19 different cities and 3 states. Each year the Herobotics team has had a Girl Scout as a member, which proves to these young girls that they are fully capable to succeed in a career involving engineering. Empowering these girls is a main goal of the team’s outreach and because of this, the Herobotics team’s partnership with the Girl Scout Council MN/River Valleys is our strongest relationship. Activities like these showcase the

Herobotics team’s mission to push underrepresented groups of people to try and succeed in the world of science and technology.

THE BAKKEN MUSEUM

The Bakken Museum has been another one of the Herobotics team’s strongest supporters and connections. While building the 2009 robot at the museum’s workshop, the team was in close contact with kids involved in the Bakken Museum’s Young Inventors Program. These kids, as well as all other visitors to the museum were able to view us working along with the Bakken’s mentors, to build our robot for the 2009 season.

OLSON MIDDLE SCHOOL

At Olson Middle School, the team participated in the Engineering Week event taking place that was run by IBM. We worked with some of the students during their science classes and talked to them about future engineering interests. Team members also gained valuable information from spending time working with IBM engineers.

Herobotics Banquet

The first annual Herobotics Banquet was held on Friday, February 26th at Patrick Henry High School. The Herobotics Banquet was intended to inform family and friends: What is Robotics? Families were asked to bring a family dish to share at the banquet to reflect the diversity of the team. Mentors, teachers and students were introduced to the families telling them of the growing experience they have had during their time with robotics. Students from different sub teams came up and talked about their responsibilities. Parents began to learn about several benefits to being in the Robotics Team which includes: scholarships, communication skills, business skills, and of course engineering skills. Shabaka Mckey, Head Mentor of Herobotics, came up and spoke of the regional competitions which Herobotics will be competing in the 2010 FIRST Robotics Season. Families were encouraged to come out and see the competitions first hand. The Herobotics banquet was organized by the students to help reassure families that the time their student’s have invested in Robotics did not go to waste. This event helped build a stronger bond between the Herobotics Team and families as parents gained a better understanding of Robotics.