Farmington High School Robotics Team Holding Open House

The Farmington High School 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, have 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 FIRST Lego League 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 28-30 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.

The FHS Robotics Team is holding an Open House on Tuesday, Dec. 11 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. All interested community members are invited to visit their warehouse at 525 New Britain Ave., Unionville, CT, to check out the place where the team designs and creates a new robot every year, and learn about the team's diverse engineering and outreach efforts.

Raffle Tickets for the ongoing fundraiser will be sold at the event, and the raffle drawing will be held at 8 p.m. Proceeds will help support the team construct competition robots and travel to out-of-state events.

We are also looking for people willing to act as mentors for the team. We need help in both engineering and other aspects, including Public Relations, Photoshop and Illustrator, Animation, Fundraising, creative writing and more. Please RSVP for the Open House at ContactUs@farmingtonrobotics.org.

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 Farmington Robotics.