Families invited to FHS Pasta Dinner Friday

The Farmington High School Robotics Team will hold their major fundraiser of the year on Friday, November 18th at the FHS cafeteria.  The Pasta Dinner runs from 6:00 to 8:30 pm. Tickets will be available at the cafeteria entrance for only $7 each or $20 for a group of four.  Families are invited to come enjoy a delicious pasta dinner with musical entertainment by team musicians.  Kids will have the chance to drive a robot, participate in fun science activities through the team’s Dream FIRST initiative, and get their face painted by the creative artists on the team.  The winners of the team’s fall raffle will be announced at the Pasta Dinner.  Proceeds will help support travel to out-of-state competitions.

The FHS Robotics Team, with 50 active student members, is part of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a non-profit organization founded by Segway® inventor Dean Kamen to inspire students in grades four to twelve to develop a passion for science and technology.  The Dream FIRST initiative, created by the FHS Robotics Team in 2004, has extended FIRST’s reach to younger kids by providing them with fascinating and fun hands-on activities.  

The FHS Robotics Team members, who work together with professional mentors and teachers, has been striving since 1997 to fulfill Dean Kamen’s mission “to create a world where science and technology are celebrated [and] where young people dream of becoming science and technology heroes....”  Each year the team learns and applies engineering concepts in the building of a new robot used during international robotics competitions, in addition to developing valuable skills in the areas of fundraising, public speaking, collaboration, and community outreach.  

The team has exciting plans for the upcoming year:  several Dream FIRST events at local school and community organizations; mentoring junior teams at Farmington’s middle school and elementary schools; hosting all FIRST Robotics teams in Connecticut for the January Kickoff of the six-week build season; designing and creating this year’s robot during build season to compete against other FIRST teams in both regional and national competitions.  The public can come watch and cheer on team members as they compete in the regional competition to be held March 29-31 at the Connecticut Convention Center.

The team is proud to count among its sponsors UTC Otis Elevator Corporation, ebm-papst Inc., UTC Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, Parker Hannifin Fluid Control Division, Farmington Public Schools, Gaston J Frechette, and Fabtron Precision Fabrications.

For  more information, please visit the team’s website at http://www.farmingtonrobotics.org or send an e-mail to contactus@farmingtonrobotics.org.

Submitted by the Farmington High School Robotics Team.