Developing A Robotics Team That Will Continue Through Generations
We need a camera in to record our progress throughout the building process, and a laptop to program the robot with android applications for the tournaments.
This year some of the students on my robotics team are leaving me. My original team members are graduating this year, so they plan to take the underclassmen under their wing to train them how to take over the team when they leave. They work and train together building great character traits such as teamwork, responsibility, and good sportsmanship. The new student will learn the skills needed for the FTC Challenges to prepare themselves for their future dream careers of being professional engineers. They will also be able to compete for a spot in the World Championship, and if all goes well, my students will have a chance to qualify for over $13.5 million dollars in college scholarships. This would defiantly benefit my seniors this year. The newcomers will also learn many skills and techniques such as problem-solving, organizational, and team-building skills, and develop the ability to apply real-world math and science to their everyday lives. Hopefully by the end of the year, my five seniors will graduate and go to the college of their dreams while leaving behind a robotics team who have acquired all the needed skills to take their place.
Each year my robotics team participates in the First Tech Challenge (FTC) Robotics competitions. Every season team requirements and project guidelines always change. This year this more challenging and each team needs more advanced technology. The seniors on my team understand how to adapt to these changes, but my newcomers are going to have to learn everything. I plan to start a programming class, but the computers we have in the school does not support the Android Studio Programming Application needed to program the robot we create this year. The laptop we are asking for would not only teach my students how to program, but it's also help the whole team program and control the robot. The Tetrix metal parts are going to be used to build our robot. The camera would be needed to record and capture every moment in the building and design process and to show the judges everything we have accomplished this year as a team.
In Their Own Words
Being one of Mr. Pekel's six students that is graduating, I feel that we are trying to accomplish more with this project than just getting a few materials. This project will be all about teamwork and giving back to our school for supporting us and our community for being so enthusiastic about our success as a small robotics team. And the goal of this project would be to show others how they can be a part of something like this too.
During these few years I have been on this robotics team, I've learned many skills that will help me in my live after school. But, now it's time for me and my fellow team members to show the younger ones of the team how to make the most out of every experience. The six of us who are graduating are going to take the role of being a leader very seriously, not just for the sake of this project, but for the sake of the team. We seniors need to share all of our knowledge and teach all of the team members who are not graduating this year how to gain even more from their own experiences on the team.
This is really important to me and me teammates because we want this team to continue to thrive even after we leave. Because this team and our opportunities have helped us so much with our stages of maturing. I want to be able to give back to my school and community, to say thank you for everything they've done for us.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mr. Pekel and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.