Charger Robotics is a FIRST Robotics Competition team run by Kent high school students and aided by adult mentors; as a team, we are passionate not just about building robots, but inspiring our community to get involved in STEM. We aim to bring a passion for STEM to students throughout Kent through FIRST Robotics. This year, we’re starting elementary school level FIRST Lego League (FLL) teams at Soos Creek and Panther Lake Elementary.

 

Currently, Kent has significantly fewer FIRST teams than our surrounding cities, creating a STEM education gap. By participating on an FLL team, Kent elementary school students will be working in teams to build programmable LEGO robots, research a socially relevant topic, and compete with other FLL teams for awards in both categories. Each FLL Team supports 8-10 students annually - teaching them engineering, STEM concepts, and teamwork skills through their robots and research project.  The total cost of starting these teams is roughly $1,500 each, between registration fees, local travel, other supplies, and, most importantly, a LEGO Mindstorm kit containing all of the supplies to build and program their robot. At around $500 each, the kits can often be one of the most daunting upfront costs to starting an FLL team. They are reusable year after year, making each kit a long-term investment in an FLL team. Grant money awarded from the KCF would be put into our Kent Robotics Group fund, and used to purchase a LEGO robotics kit for each school. The remainder of FLL team costs will be funded through the rest of the Kent Robotics Group fund, which is currently primarily supported and fundraised through Charger Robotics. 

 

Receiving a KCF grant to purchase the kits would be a weight off our shoulders in starting these teams. Currently, we have already found teachers and more than enough students from each elementary school who want to join an FLL team. Our success will be measured by the longevity of these teams, how many students are able to participate in total, and by increased student interest in math and science. FIRST Robotics enhances student engagement with in-class curriculum by giving them real-world applications of knowledge, bringing STEM to life, and encouraging kinesthetic learning. Teams will also be able to utilize STARS, a comprehensive FLL curriculum designed to allow teachers with no robotics experience to be able to lead a team. More information about STARS is available on our website, chargerrobotics.com . 

 

Through a grant award, KCF would become a critical partner to the Kent Robotics Group, and be featured on the upcoming KRG website and on the team shirts of all teams supported by the KRG fund. We hope you’ll join us in inspiring Kent students to get involved in STEM through FIRST Robotics.