Starting FRC Teams: We are proud to be planting the seeds for the next generations of FIRST teams through our work with the K-8 school on our campus, the Innovation Academy. Robotics team members work twice weekly with grades 3-8 students on their engineering projects, and we are helping establish a FLL team there. We also spread the word about FIRST to the many aerospace firms who work with Da Vinci, and our marketing includes information on how their engineers can connect with other FIRST teams.
Starting Other Teams: In addition to our work helping with the Innovation Academy FLL, we are working with a young, creative fourth grader who wants to start his own FLL team. He immediately took interest in FIRST when he came with his father to visit our team during the weekends. We gave him a tour around our workshop and showed him our robot. He was captivated by the fact that we made a robot with our own hands and wanted to know how he could participate in FIRST.
Assist Other Teams: Our team members have been assisting Dana Middle School with their FLL team since before we began in 2010. Though Dana initially had an FLL team, they became inactive after three years due to a lost sponsor. We are now trying to help them revive their team by teaching their new members everything they need to know about FIRST. From programming to making their robot design more efficient, we have been working with them on getting their FLL team up and running again.
Mentor Other Teams: Although a young team ourselves, we have been very incredibly involved with the FLL teams in our community. At "Nature's Fury", the regional FLL competition, our team assisted with judging team project presentations and many team members served as referees for the robot competitions. The experience was a fantastic opportunity for the younger and older generations of FIRST to exercise its mission and core values.
Corporate/ University Sponsors: We are very grateful to our corporate sponsors that have generously given their time and money, including Raytheon, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, COM DEV, MiCIAN, WyzAnt Tutoring, Gardena Specialized Finishing, Elite Technologies, and Embrace Apparel. USC Institute for Creative Technologies is a university sponsor. Our largest sponsor, however, is Da Vinci Science from Wiseburn School District. We believe it is unusual in its strong financial and emotional support for an extracurricular activity.
Strength of Partnership: Northrop Grumman, Boeing, and Raytheon are our largest corporate sponsors this year, and since we began in 2012. Northrop gave us a significant spontaneous grant to support our competing in two regional events, and we have taken part in their Innovation Challenge event. Boeing has provided funding, internships, and mentoring. In addition to funding, Raytheon has loaned the very precious asset of their employee, Fazlul Zubair, who is our most active team mentor.
Explain FIRST: FIRST empowers you to learn about engineering and to apply engineering concepts to solve real world problems. It allows ambitious students to be original with their work, as they collaborate to innovate and create something physical from the imagined. FIRST promotes business, communication, marketing, and a whole spectrum of skills that do not just involve engineering. It really includes everything! FIRST allows us to apply what we've learned in the classroom to something tangible and physical.
Other Considerations: Community service is an important part of the Vitruvian Bots, both individually and as a team. Of course, we volunteered at the FLL competition, but also we helped construct floats at the Rose Parade; we take part in the Manhattan Beach Clean-up sponsored by Heal the Bay every third Saturday of the month; and we served at a large dinner for the homeless. Also, many of us tutor in near-by middle schools with students who need help in math and science, and work with the Innovation Academy.
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