2015 - Team 1816 Team Number 1816 Team Name, Corporate/University Sponsors Medtronic / Dow Water & Process Solutions / Cyberonics Inc. / Cargill Inc. / Graco / Crosstown Surgery / Stratasys / Symantec / PTC / Elicit LLC / Emerson Process Management / Edina Education Fund / The Nerdery / KING / Violet Edge / 3M Co. / Accumet Materials Co. / Alignex Inc. / Calvary Lutheran Church / Dunwoody College of Technology / NPC Robotics / Wanner Engineering Inc. / Waytek Wire / Jerry's do-it Best Hardware / Queen of Cakes / Green Machine Boosters & EDINA SENIOR HIGH Briefly describe the impact of the FIRST program on team participants with special emphasis on the 2014/2015 year and the preceding two to five years Through 2015, 1816 provided FIRST experiences to 170 students; 91 seniors have graduated from 1816; 89% chose STEM majors. 89% of 2015 grads certain to pursue STEM in college. Post-college alum survey found 62% in STEM: Medical School, MD/PhD, Engineering & Computer Science. Survey of 2011-14 alums: 88% say 1816 encouraged them to pursue STEM. 7 1816 alumni are 2015 Team mentors; 3 are on FIRST Regional Planning Committees. 4 1816 mentors are recognized as FIRST Outstanding Volunteers. Describe the impact of the FIRST program on your community with special emphasis on the 2014/2015 year and the preceding two to five years 1816 hosted/staffed simultaneous FTC, FLL, Jr. FLL tournaments; Edina's Mayor proclaimed it FIRST "Robotics Day." 1816 is centerpiece of dedicated STEM facilities planned in EHS; we are consultants/advisors for this larger facility. Professional STEM experts are keynote anchors for 1816's community STEM Career Night. 58% of 1816 members are veterans of our FLL, FTC teams. PLTW classes grew from 1 in 2009 to now 8 modules; 2 > coming Fall 2016. 4000 (>50% of all Edina students) enrolled in PLTW. Team's innovative or creative method to spread the FIRST message 1816 makes FIRST visible & accessible. LEGO Summer Camps target minorities & underserved populations that would not otherwise have this opportunity: reaching 60 in Edina; 50 at Minneapolis homeless shelter, 70 at Kids Club. Safety practices integrated into Edina HS performing arts department via shared school workshop. Produced FRC themed music video, featured on FRC 2052's Vlog. Team retreat focused on the mission & goals of FIRST, along with what it means to be the Foundation of FIRST in MN. Describe examples of how your team members act as role models and inspire other FIRST team members to emulate 1816 creates/hosts >80 Outreach events/year; >915 mentor-hours of JrFLL, FLL & FTC this fall. Shown as STEM Heroes in FTC 2887 Promote Video. Produced new PLTW promo video for Edina Schools. Speak in Gov Classes on STEM advocacy. Volunteers at Edina Service Day & FRC events. Wrote LEGO Robotics curriculum used in Best Buy national camps in 26 cities. We share resources, talents, materials with FRC teams, encourage their initiatives. All outreach events are student initiated, created & executed. Describe the team's initiatives to help start or form other FRC teams Robot demos & personalized peer mentoring inspire veteran teams & bolster those that are faltering. FRC Teams 2498 & 2549 lost support/mentors/grants; 1816 taught method to reach new local sponsors & also introduced 2549 to sponsors who provide items "at-cost." 1816 launched FRC Team 4511 in 2013 and helped ensure a smooth transition for FRC 2989 as they absorbed members of another local Team. 1816 has started 22 FRC Teams & provides enduring mentorship & aid to teams to ensure sustainability. Describe the team's initiatives to help start or form other FIRST teams (including Jr.FLL, FLL, & FTC) 1816 Summer LEGO Builders camps & School Open House demos established 4 Jr FLL Teams for the first time ever in Edina & added students to 4 FLL teams. We have 4 Jr. FLL, 8 FLL & 7 FTC. We underwrite Jr. FLL & FLL, provide mentors, LEGO kits & essential materials. Outside Edina, 1816 mentors FLL at Yinghua Academy & rookie Shakopee; helps run GS Robotics Camps; developed Woodbury Kids Club STEM Activities Day. We mentor other teams in how to run effective camps to jumpstart FLL in their towns. Describe the team's initiatives on assisting other FIRST teams (including Jr.FLL, FLL, FTC, & FRC) with progressing through the FIRST program At camps/events, we urge students to continue through FIRST, moving from FLL to FTC or FRC. We engage FLL, FTC grads in summer events to ensure transition to next team in program. We encourage deeper FIRST participation via student peer mentors. In 2015 we directly mentored FRC teams 2052-KnightKrawler, 3883, 2498 & 2502-Talon in Chairman's/awards presentations. 1816 leads/facilitates best-practice sharing via weekly SW Metro FRC Hub mentoring of 2502, 2531, 4778 & Rookie team 5626. Describe how your team works with other FIRST teams to serve as mentors to younger or less experienced FIRST teams (includes Jr.FLL, FLL, FTC, & FRC teams) Mentoring younger teams is a priority. 1816 introduced FTC 6705 Motorbolts to how to do Outreach; encouraged formation & mentoring of new FLL team 9826 Motorbits out of 6705's younger siblings. 1816 partners with Edina FTC, FLL to do co-demos. We co-present seminars with other FRC teams, eg. Scouting with 2052, Sustainability with 93 and National Advocacy Conference with Team 27 RUSH, where we helped teach 17 other FRC teams about lobbying for FIRST/STEM at national level in 2014. Describe your Corporate/University Sponsors 21 of 28 2015 sponsors are multiyear; we gained new sponsor in Jan. via targeted video; Our success in recruiting & maintaining sponsors is recognized by teams worldwide. Our Fundraising & Sponsorship presentation is the most requested via website & best-attended SRO seminar at events. Our expertise was included in FIRST Fundraising Toolkit. 1816 won an unprecedented 2nd year volunteer grant from Cargill for the team's Outreach & engagement of increased numbers of women & minorities in STEM. Describe the strength of your partnership with your sponsors with special emphasis on the 2014/2015 year and the preceding two to five years Sponsors & mentors are keynote speakers at 1816 STEM Career Night, spotlighting their companies. We do outreach together: We brought Stratasys to MN Children's Museum; Dow on parks cleanups. 11 of 23 mentors are from sponsors. Sponsors choose 1816 due to our strong relationships, dedication to helping other FIRST teams & increasing recognition of STEM in our community. 1816 communicates via email, videos, & demos re: Team progress, invitations to visit, guided tours at events & competitions. Describe how your team would explain what FIRST is to someone who has never heard of it FIRST is a remarkable world-wide program for promoting science, technology and culture change through robotics. It starts with Jr. FLL in Kindergarten, progresses through FLL in middle school, overlaps in the late middle school & high school years with FTC & culminates with FRC in high school. This comprehensive program includes STEM Outreach, Business/Marketing, Design, Programming & Construction in a collaborative setting. Students learn marketable skills and change their communities. Briefly describe other matters of interest to the FIRST judges, if any Our website attracts >1 million hits/year; is a go-to resource for teams worldwide. Team delivers on countless resources requests (1816 Team handbook, Varsity Lettering, State Varsity Sport Recognition). To meet demands for in-person presence, we divided 50-member Team into 2 outreach units. Recruitment of women, minorities results in Team diversity: 64% are Caucasian, 4% black and 32% Asian/Middle Eastern. 6% on scholarship. Team diversity is outpacing school diversity. This is culture change. Team Captain/Student Representative that has double-checked this submission. Erika Ding Essay FIRST Team 1816 The Green Machine makes growth of FIRST programs a top priority. We create enduring STEM programs on our own & by request. We empower other teams & organizations to follow our lead, to even take over signature events we created. We use our time, effort & resources introducing FIRST/STEM opportunities even when we aren't sure of an immediate return, trusting that the core values of FIRST will be carried forward in a meaningful way. Innovation requires motivation, guts, determination & year-round commitment.1816 makes FIRST/STEM an integral & visible part of our community through outreach & advocacy. Our demos, appearances & presentations convinced Edina Public Schools to include dedicated STEM facilities in its middle & high schools. The centerpiece of our new high school STEM Center will be built to meet the needs of The Green Machine & Project Lead the Way engineering classes. 1816 students & mentors are a critical part of the Team working on plans with Edina Schools. As a direct result of the Team, Edina introduced PLTW in 2008. Now, 4000 EPS students in grades 7-12 take advantage of 8 course modules, with 2 new units coming in 2016 under the advisement of an 1816 alum/CAD Mentor. "Our seed money for 1816 was well spent, helping develop enduring hands-on STEM experiences," said Karen Nelson, director, Edina Education Fund. 1816 is a dominant force in the greater Twin Cities. We create, host & run >80 outreach experiences, events & collaborations annually. One of the newest is Robot Day at the Minnesota Children's Museum for children ages 10 & under. Museum staff asked 1816 to expand this for 2015; we doubled FIRST demos & activities; attendance topped 1750 people & we also taught 3 other FRC teams how to run demos safely for young children. We bring FIRST to audiences who might otherwise miss out on STEM & FIRST. 1816 helped the MN & WI River Valley Girl Scouts develop their first-ever Robotics day camps. These camps grew from 1 location & 1 level 5 years ago to 3 levels & >10 locations. We helped train other FRC & FTC teams to be GS camp counselors. Our student-developed LEGO Builders Camp, launched in 2013, is now integrated into Best Buy/Geek Squad's summer engineering camps in at least 26 cities nationwide. Our own camp of 60 minority kids fed into elementary school FLL teams. We brought this camp to 50 children at the Minneapolis homeless shelter People Serving People so that, wherever these kids end up, they can find a home in any FIRST program. 1816 was chosen over other local teams to host a camp for >70 kids 30 miles away, said Nichole Jacobs, Valley Crossing Kids Club Site Supervisor, because "1816 brought us a unique opportunity with their LEGO Builders Camp." FIRST in Edina has grown tremendously due to our creation of a sustainable feeder team system. In 2009, we started the first-ever MN FTC team. Now there are 7 Edina FTC teams; 6 are mentored twice-weekly by 14 1816 students. FLL is now 8 sustaining teams in 4 Edina elementary schools; 8 students mentor 4 of these FLL teams, plus 3 teams outside Edina. In 2015, we launched 4 Jr. FLL teams mentored by 5 female students. In all, 1816 spent >915 hours from Sept. to mid-Dec. mentoring our feeder system teams. Demos at school Open Houses aid team formation; now >170 Edina students are involved in FIRST. We help our feeder teams with events: In 2015, 1816 managed 2 FTC events-the Kickoff & a Rookie Build, plus the Edina FLL kickoff. Edina Mayor James Hovland proclaimed December 13, 2014 FIRST "Robotics Day in Edina." All at the same time, in the same place, 1816 hosted an FTC qualifier, FLL tournament, a Jr. FLL Expo plus a FRC demo. Hundreds of participants, families & spectators came to this FIRST "Hat Trick" day! 3 competitions, 66 teams, all levels of FIRST present. Cheryl Moeller, High Tech Kids Executive Director, said, "Thank you 1816 for everything you did to make these events happen!" 1816 is integrated into EHS, expected at the Student Activities Fair, Curriculum Night & the Homecoming Parade. Student Council asked us to make a December appearance before 1,925 students, with a robot demo & video "Do You Want to Build a Robot?" viewed >900 times on YouTube. We encourage greater student interest in STEM via our annual Career Night, where our mentors & sponsors are keynote presenters. 1816s safety culture now covers organizations with which we share a workshop. Our safety practices were adopted by the Music & Theater Departments. We present our safety seminar at preseason events; we also developed & distribute a safety-themed coloring book. In 2015, we added 30 rookies to become a 50- member team. 36% of members are women; 36% are racial-minorities & 58% are from our feeder teams. We divided 1816 into 2 outreach units, expanding our ability to hold multiple outreach events simultaneously. Our first-ever Team Retreat, facilitated by alumni student leaders, focused on Gracious Professionalism & Coopertition & that our Team takes risks to build a sustainable Foundation of FIRST in MN. 1816 has pushed FIRST Robotics in MN from 1 active team to 192 in 2015 by directly starting 22 MN FRC teams & inspiring countless others here & beyond. We instituted preseason training to ensure ongoing success of FRC teams. Our MN SPLASH event now reaches >600 people annually at the U-MN; we gave FRC 2512 & 2977 our SPLASH organizational structure & seminar lists to run SPLASH in 2 satellite locations. 1816 presents >10 times annually on programming, safety, Chairman's, competition preparedness & Fundraising/Sponsorship. The latter receives the most requests from teams. We mentored >20 FRC teams in 2015, 8 of which are multiyear mentorships. We were chosen as an "FRC Hub" leader to facilitate long-lasting collaboration & inter-team mentoring. Our award- winning website edinarobotics.com is student-designed & run; visited annually >1 million times. This is a go-to resource for teams worldwide. Our contact email receives requests daily from teams asking for help in both technical and nontechnical team aspects of FIRST. 1816 uses cloud service to foster collaboration; Google services, GitHub, Dropbox & SignUp Genius are vital tools. Twitter, Facebook & YouTube further our reach & engagement. This year, we were featured in: 2 local newspaper articles; the Edina Magazine, delivered to 25,000 households; our school newspaper; district e-newsletters; & on cable TV reaching >48,000 Edina citizens. Our City Council presentation is now a yearly "State of STEM" address. We have invested >6,000 hours into community service over 5 years. We clean 2 Edina parks, stock food pantries & design/build trails & landscape features. On March 17, we will bring robots & hand-crafted cards to Minneapolis Children's Hospital. These events are all student initiated, developed & executed. In 2015, 1816 cold-called >60 companies & gained 4 new sponsors. Another was won by a "Dear Sponsor" video touting why FIRST team sponsorship matters. Of our 28 sponsors, 22 are multi-year. Deeper relationships are fostered by encouraging workshop visits, outreach & mentoring participation. Sponsors provide 11 of our 23 mentors; 16 mentors are multi-year & none have students on 1816. 1816 has graduated 91 students with 89% in STEM majors. 10 alumni are actively engaged as mentors of 1816; 3 mentor via Skype, Facebook & email. 3 serve on FIRST Regional Planning committees. Stratasys 3D-prints robot parts & is involved with our Children's Museum Robot Day, STEM Career Night & MN State FTC. Our sponsor & community demos work: FRC Team 4693 was about to fold but Rockford HS's new principal came to an 1816 demo. Our enthusiasm & support convinced him to keep 4693 going. 1816 won an unprecedented 2nd Cargill volunteer grant based on our dedication to engage minority & female students in STEM. 1816 switched to CREO software, resulting in a new PTC sponsorship. Yet we still managed to convince Alignex, a CAD competitor, to join our sponsor ranks too. In response we've made our annual open house into "We 'Heart' Our Robot Day" to thank sponsors. In 2013, 1816 was 1 of 5 FRC Teams invited to Washington DC by Team 27 RUSH to advocate for STEM education. In 2014, we were an integral part of the first National Advocacy Conference, helping teach other teams how to lobby federal officials. We raised the visibility of FIRST/STEM in meetings with Senator Klobuchar & Representatives Paulsen, Ellison, Kline & Bill Richards, Governor Dayton's D.C. representative & pushed for greater support of STEM education. In DC, MN Senator Franken proclaimed the importance of FIRST Robotics & STEM at Wednesday Morning Breakfast With Al attended by 75 people in addition to our delegation. Rep. Ellison was impressed by 1816s work to engage minority & female students, expressing desire to help with this outreach. Tweets about our FIRST/STEM advocacy caught the attention of State Senator Melisa Franzen. Under our leadership, FIRST Robots will be in the State Capitol in March 2015. When 1816 formed 10 years ago, FIRST Robotics was virtually nonexistent in MN. The Green Machine's efforts, including the Governor's STEM Summit, visits to high schools, the MN State Fair & MN SPLASH, inspired formation of FRC teams statewide, an ongoing process. We recruited 15 teams in 2007, enough to host our own kickoff; we helped host the 2008 MN Regional. By 2013, 1 event had grown into 4 regional events in 2 cities, plus Minnesota State High School League championship, the first-ever in the US. Now teams & states across the US ask 1816 how they too can get FIRST recognized as a varsity sport. Arizona is the most recent to visit our State Tournament to see what is required to implement a competition, following WV, TX, WA & CT who also sought our help when framing their programs. Many teams would stop here. Not 1816. We continually seek new ways to bring FIRST/STEM to new audiences. Now, more than ever, we have our eyes on the future.