Prepared by: Nathan Knauss Edited and Revised by: Megan Jones, Chuck DiVincenzo, Jim Hessler Consulted by: Lockheed Martin ATLP Engineers,

Transcription

1 R O O K I E N A S A G R A N T Prepared by: Nathan Knauss Edited and Revised by: Megan Jones, Chuck DiVincenzo, Jim Hessler Consulted by: Lockheed Martin ATLP Engineers, Michael Whalen (Lockheed Martin), Rich Kressley (FRC Team 1712)

2 1. Why are you considering entering a team in the 2009 FIRST Robotics Competition? What will define success for your team? The Lenape Regional High School District has been participating in the FIRST Robotics Competition for the past 5 years. The district serves over 8,000 students and covers an area with 8 municipalities in Southern New Jersey and is composed of four public high schools. The district s first year of participation in the FIRST Robotics Competition was limited to students attending Seneca High School. The district made the decision to expand participation to any student attending the district the following year and continued that policy through the school year. However, the participation of students from the other three schools was extremely low, partially due to the distance between Seneca High School and the municipalities in which students resided. Our district s unfaltering commitment to this program resulted in the decision to provide bus transportation between Seneca High School and the other three high schools. The goal was to remove transportation barriers for students who wished to participate in the program. Despite such steps taken by the district to increase student participation, the number of students from Lenape High School and Cherokee High School has been as low as five students from the two high schools being members of the team. The impact of the robotics program has resulted in a number of benefits to students who participated in the program. A number of students have graduated with FIRST scholarships and approximately 75% of the students who participate in the robotics program will go on to study engineering and related fields after graduating from our high schools. The attention and publicity surrounding the robotics program has resulted in a higher appreciation from both students and the community for the fields surrounding Science, Technology, and Engineering. Page 2

3 Despite the opportunities available to students at each of our four high schools, the vast majority of students who participated in the robotics program came from Seneca High School. The teachers, administrators, and mentors for the team all expressed concerns over the disparity of participation on the team. Acknowledging the desire to increase student enrollment and participation in the robotics team, our Superintendent agreed to create a second robotics team within the district beginning with the school year. This second robotics team would focus on the students who attend Lenape High School and Cherokee High School. Increased enrollment and participation of students at Lenape High School and Cherokee High School will be a primary measure of the success of our rookie season. The Lenape Regional High School District, the mentors from Lockheed Martin, and the five returning students from Lenape and Cherokee are working together to meet this goal. The advisors and mentors attended Back-to-School night and distributed information about the team to interested parents, the district is holding in-school assemblies for all students to provide information about the robotics team and about the FIRST Robotics Competition, holding an Open House at our schools, and have invited interested students to participate in the Duel on the Delaware off-season FRC Competition in Southern New Jersey. Our goal of increasing student participation in the team fits the mission of FIRST; Our mission is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership. ( It is our hope that through participation in the robotics team, the students will develop greater self-confidence, become better communicators, and have Page 3

4 increased leadership skills. A primary goal of starting a new FIRST Robotics Competition team is to reach and inspire those students who may not have seen the benefits to participating in the program. These traits will result in the students becoming leaders, not only in our schools, but in our communities. 2. Please address the following issues: (a) Explain the relationship you envision among your students, faculty, and community partners as a part of this year s FRC experience, i.e., how will your team be organized to facilitate interaction among these groups. (b) Describe how you envision these groups working together and benefiting from their involvement with FRC. Our vision is to create a partnership between students, faculty, and the community as a part of this year s FIRST Robotics Competition season. We recognize that an endeavor as complex and challenging as the FIRST Robotics Competition requires a variety of skills from numerous areas of expertise. As a result, a major focus for our team will be the concept of integration. The concept of integration is one strongly supported by our school district. Our district is committed the idea that interdisciplinary activities result in settings where student learning and experience are combined in a way that results in high student achievement. Each member of the school s community works as equal shareholders to achieve the common task at hand. For our team, this means that each academic discipline will work in conjunction to see that the goals of the team and the mission of FIRST is accomplished. The school district has already sought the expertise of teachers from the STEM based disciplines, including Math, Science, Technology, and Engineering to mentor the team. Teachers from other areas of study have also shown both interest and support for the team. Our new team will continue to work with our sister two schools, Team 1647, to reach out to our community through service events (for example: roadside cleanups) and community resources (for example: our district s Page 4

5 television station), and by working with Marlton Middle School s FIRST Lego League Team. The Lenape Regional Robotics Program has been working on a way to reach out further to our community by working with our local community college in Burlington County. The formation of a relationship between the robotics team and Burlington County College will allow our students additional access to resources. Such resources will enrich the experience of students in the STEM content areas and allow for our team communicate with the largest county in New Jersey and its schools. This is important because although New Jersey has 41 FRC Teams, Southern New Jersey is home to only seven. We are hopeful that through our efforts to inform and gain support for our team, there will be greater interest in FIRST from both students within our schools and from the surrounding communities. The Lenape Regional High School District recognizes the benefits that lie within the overall mission of FIRST; to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders. Integration of FIRST s mission to achieve this goal will be seamless with the support of our Administration, Teachers, and Mentors. Every member recognizes the challenges our future generations face and need for a mentor-based program to provide our students with an experience that will foster an appreciation for science, technology, and engineering career paths. 3. FRC provides high school students with many unique opportunities, but because of the nature of the competition, as well as the travel that can be involved, participation in FRC can require significant financial resources. In addition to the entrance fees, teams must budget for robot prototyping and construction, travel to one or more events, and miscellaneous such as tools, materials, team uniforms, supplies, etc. Please outline your anticipated budget (expenses) and how you plan to fund your team's participation (income) this year. Please do not use a table format. Instead, please use narrative format. Page 5

6 The FIRST Robotics Competition Team 1647 has been annually funded by Lockheed Martin of Moorestown, NJ since its inception. Lockheed has been able to provide the team with approximately $17,000 to help fund registration, travel, and other material costs. With the addition of the second team, the school district recognizes the need for additional funding to support the costs of participation during this year s rookie season and future seasons to come. The administration of our District is currently working to develop a plan to gather fund and materials, while simultaneously forging the essential community connections to garner support for the team. In addition, the students of the team are prepared to enter the community to seek financial and material support to help offset the costs the District faces. To assist the students, the Team has created a letter and recognition system to approach local communities and organization. In seeking the assistance of our community, the Team is also able to spread the mission of FIRST. Acting under the motto of gracious professionalism, the Team is prepared to provide recognition to any community partner for their generous donations in hope to build relationships to carry over into future seasons. Our Team will prosper and achieve many of its goals with the help of Grant funds, community outreach, Lockheed Martin, and the District. 4. Please identify the corporate or community partners/mentors who will assist and instruct the students in fabrication, mechanical, and electrical concepts, computer programming and control, and computer aided design and animation. How will they enable your students to be successful in this project? The students of the Lenape Regional Robotics Program have been fortunate to have support from members of the community and Lockheed Martin. These groups have assisted students in learning how to design and construct the mechanical, electrical and software systems of the robot. When Page 6

7 informed that we were starting a new team, Lockheed Martin generously scaled up the number of mentors from four engineers to six engineers at our schools for the coming competition season. Lockheed Martin s mentors will provide students with countless hours of support starting in October with our Pre-Season meetings. These meetings are designed to familiarize students with Engineering Design process and material fabrication. Additionally, the school district has also increased the number of teachers advising the robotics teams. The school has recruited teachers who are experts in STEM content areas along with teachers who have experience in engineering, metal fabrication, and programming. In previous years, the single robotics team had access to only one electronics shop and a wood shop. The district s expansion of the robotics program has expanded the facilities for both teams to include a metal shop, an electronics lab, a CAD lab, wood shop, and a physics classroom to help manage the construction of the robot. As a result of these expansions in staff and facilities, students will have virtually unlimited one-on-one experience with mentoring professionals, who can provide a wide range of knowledge in a setting that fosters safety, intelligent design, and professionalism. Our team will also be looking to work with our community for material and fabrication support. The robotics team has worked diligently to make connections with local machine shops that have donated time and materials to the fabrication of small parts to the other FRC Team in the area. Our team looks forward to working with these suppliers and will make every effort to provide a positive interaction both with our team and the school district. These interactions may include presenting the robot at Women in Engineering days, providing presentations at Bring Your Child to Work Day, or showcasing the robot in the businesses lobby as a symbol of our appreciation for their graciousness. 5. Please describe how participation in FRC will contribute to your school s overall educational goals, how FRC will integrate with your Page 7

8 existing curriculum, and how you envision FRC helping your students meet applicable local or national standards in math, science, and technology? The Lenape Regional High School District has seen how the FIRST Robotics Competition can contribute to the District s overall educational goals through its experience with the FRC Team 1647 at Seneca High School. The District believes that its interdisciplinary approach to reaching educational objectives and the FIRST Robotics Program will work together in the creation and meeting of educational objectives that far exceed local and national standards for Math, Science, and Technology. The Mission Statement of the District states: The mission of the Lenape Regional High School District, a leader in progressive education, is to develop physically and emotionally healthy students who excel in an ever-changing world, accomplished through: Unlimited educational experiences A curriculum which exceeds the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards Integration of technology Expectations of higher achievement for all students and staff Partnerships with families and community in a secure, challenging and energizing environment. Source: The FIRST Robotics Competition is an ideal activity that will allow students to meet each of the above stated goals. FIRST Robotics provides students with an educational experience that exceeds New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards. The program provides students with real-world, interdisciplinary experience that engages their minds and their imaginations. Both staff and students will need to work as equal stakeholders to meet the Page 8

9 goals and high expectations of the program. Our students and teachers will gain a better understanding of how to use technology to meet the needs of a specific problem through their experiences collaborating, designing lessons, and participation in the FIRST Robotics Program. The seamless integration of technology will require the participants to go beyond just solving a problem and to learn how to identify how they can use such technology in other situations. Over the past five years, much of technology that was been first used in our school s robotics programs has found its way into the classroom. This includes document sharing, collaboration tools, and communication media. The final statement of our District s mission statement appears tailor made to reflect the ideals and philosophy of FIRST Robotics. It states that the district will form, Partnerships with families and community in a secure, challenging and energizing environment. There is no better way to describe the environment of the FIRST Robotics program, the partnerships it creates within the community, and the inspiration provided to its participation. As the program moves forward in the coming years, our vision for the team is for it to work with will the District to provide exposure to a greater number of students to the STEM areas of study. Additionally, we will work to highlight the bridges between these areas and other core subject areas such as English, Business, History, and the Arts. The teachers who are involved with the robotics program often participate in both curriculum revisions and the creation of new courses for our district. It is our hope that these actions will inspire more students to take an interest in the areas of science, technology, and engineering. Our staff will work with the district s administration, teachers, FRC Teams, corporate sponsors and students to strive to ensure that these goals are not only met but exceeded as participants in this program. 6. Access to adequate woodworking, metalworking, welding, and other facilities are important in the robot fabrication process. Some teams Page 9

10 have these capabilities available at their school, while others take advantage of tools and machine shops provided by their corporate partners. What facilities are available for your team s use in this years FRC program? Our District has been able to provide the team with adequate facilities for woodworking, electronics testing, CAD drawing, and a programming lab during both the pre-season and build season. The high school s metal stop class will be utilized for any necessary metalworking as needed. The teacher and students in that class have volunteered their time to fabricate any parts needed during the build season, as long as we provide them with accurate plans from our CAD lab. The team will also be able to take advantage of donations from Lockheed Martin s machine shop partners during the build season. As noted above in question 3, it is one of our goals to begin the process of developing the tooling infrastructure needed to run a selfsustaining robotics team. We are both fortunate and grateful to have an administration that is willing to support the needs of the robotics team as it looks to expand in the future. 7. Do you have support from your senior-level administration, eg., principal or superintendent? Yes or NO Yes, the Team has the support of the entire Lenape Regional High School District and the local community through Lockheed Martin. Please see the attached letter from our Superintendent, Mrs. Emily Capella and the additional letter she wrote to Lockheed Martin in August of this year to commend Lockheed Martin for their support of the Seneca High School Robotics Team. 8. Please describe what will set your team apart from other teams competing in this year s FIRST Robotics Competition. What makes your unique? If there are any other considerations that you would like to share with the review panel, you may do so here as well. Page 10

11 Like many of the teams in the FIRST Robotics Competition, it will be hard to select just one asset that defines why our Team is so dynamic and stand out from the rest. However, because of the foundation that has been set by the past success of our sister school s FRC team, the students that were retained or recruited since the beginning of this school year all recognize the need to become gracious professionals as they move forward in their juniorprofessional careers. Both Lockheed Martin and our District recognize the merit and value behind the FIRST program through the personal stories of success of the students of who were members of our sister school s team. The school district and local community have recognized the value of having such a program in place within our District through various demonstrations and outreach programs, such as school wide demonstrations and roadside cleanups. Through this interaction, the community recognizes the need to support the program and the students who represent the ideals and values of FIRST. As a result, our Team stands out from others because of the support it has from its sponsors, the District, and the community who illustrated a personal commitment to the mission of FIRST. The confidence and motivation demonstrated by our Team is immeasurable because of the backing it has by the community. The students of the District understand that they face many technological based problems in the future and want to use this opportunity to network and make connections with those who work on a daily basis to solve these problems. They understand that Engineers, Scientists, Inventors, and professionals must all work together to move society forward in a responsible and successful manner. With FIRST as our vehicle, our Team will be able to set examples in our community that will be used in generations to come. The community that surrounds our Team is one that thrives on the success and values of the students it supports. Lockheed Martin and the administration of our District have been longtime supporters of past FIRST programs in our area. We are honored to continue the expansion of FIRST in Southern New Page 11

12 Jersey. We look forward to acting as ambassadors of the program and helping to expand the mission of FIRST, by forging relationships within our community and illustrating through our actions how groups of people can work together to solve complex problems. It is our goal that our students and community will become increasingly aware of how people with diverse skill sets can work together to solve the most complicated problems that face our world today. Page 12