Schools

Mentors Needed to Invest in the Kids that Build Robots

Farmington FIRST Robotic team hosting mentor open house tonight.

Farmington teens are doing amazing things — building full-scale robots to perform a range of tasks, designing and executing outreach and communication plans, working cooperatively and growing into leaders. But they need a little help.

The national FIRST Robotics Competition continually stresses that the experience of a robotics team is not about building robots but about growing, learning and working together. A key ingredient is mentors. Along with a few Farmington High School faculty, the team is shepherded by adult volunteers with varying skill sets.

Our team truly measures how successful each season is by the quality of our experience together during our six-week build season not by awards we win or don't win,” said Timothy Barron, a computer teacher and co-head coach for the robotics team. “Year after year, I hear from parents and returning college students about how much they learned from the time spent with mentors on our team and how it has benefited them in college and in life.”

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It’s about fostering an opportunity for kids to grow, to develop professional skills that will carry them into a bright future – in science, technology, engineering or something else.

The mechanics of the season come in the form of a game and evenings spent at the team’s headquarters, a part of the ebm-papst Inc. building on New Britain Avenue.

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The kids are given a challenge, a box of parts for their robot and six weeks to build it. The only other thing they have to help them is their creativity and resourcefulness paired with the guidance and experience of mentors.

Matthew Hall, an engineer with UTC Sikorsky Aircraft has been volunteering with the Farmington team for nine years.

“My duties range from being a dad, big brother, engineering professional, boss, teacher, and general nuisance — which I think is the definition of a mentor. But mostly my role is teacher, by providing them perspective on what it’s like to be an engineer, how to act like one, and what it’s like in the 'big' world,” Hall said.

Team captain Edward Fouad is a senior who has spent three years on the team. When he first signed up, Fouad wasn’t sure how he would fit in but now he’s found his place on the engineering side and also as a leader. He attributes his growth to the pattern of his mentors.

“It’s a really powerful environment, building the relationship between the engineer and high school students… The team mentors are there to help students become leaders and they do that by helping and vetting their ideas when they think an idea could be improved or isn’t what it needs to be to make it really solid,” Fouad said. “It’s a partnership.”

Because FIRST is about more than just robots, the team has been targeting students with interest in other areas, like graphic design, marketing, public relations and animation to join the team. The team is divided into engineering and outreach committees and functions as a small corporation. The outreach committee writes press releases, designs t-shirts and organizes fundraising events while the engineering team designs, builds and tests the robot.

The competition includes an essay portion, a public speaking presentation and a 30-second animation submission. Teams are also graded on community outreach. In response, the Farmington team pioneered Dream FIRST, a program to bring robotics and an interest in science and engineering to young children. Students host almost monthly events for children ages 3 to 10 to drive past years’ robots and do some simple experiments. The team has even written two children’s books and created themed coloring books.

The vast array of skills needed on the team leaves room for mentors of all types.

“We are looking for people with both technical and non-technical skills who have an interest in working with a group of very motivated high school students,” Barron said. “We need help with team projects related to the robot design process, especially people with an understanding of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, carpentry/woodworking, and programming in both Java and LabView. Equally important are the community outreach projects we are undertaking for which we could really use help from people with an understanding of graphic design, web design, marketing, fundraising, public relations, and animation using AutoDesk Maya and 3DS Max software.”

“The benefits for me is that it keeps me young, it makes me feel like I’m contributing back, and it helps me do my real job better,” Hall said. “For the kids, the best compliment I have ever received was from one graduate who said that everything we did prepared him for the job he took. That answer made me feel like I did my job."

The Farmington FIRST Robotics Team 178 – they’re called the Enforcers – is holding an open house for anyone interested in mentoring tonight at 7 p.m. at 525 New Britain Ave., Unionville. Anyone interested in attending the event is asked to call Tim Barron at 860-673-2514 ext. 1854 or email barront@fpsct.org.


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