Greetings St. Patrick Families,

We would like tell you about our school’s FIRST Robotics program. FIRST stands For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology and was founded over 30 years ago to inspire students’ interest in STEM fields. We are looking for new sponsors to help us accomplish this mission.

We are very fortunate that our school has teams for all grade levels to participate in.

• FIRST Lego League Discover (FLL Discover) is for grades K-1…We had so much interest this year, we have several teams at this level.
• FIRST Lego League Explore (FLL Explore) is for grades 2-3…We have two teams.
• FIRST Lego League Challenge (FLL Challenge) is for grades 4-6…We currently have two teams, the Robo-ShamRocks and the Robo-ShamRolls. In past years, several of our FLL teams have won regional competitions. One team qualified for the FLL State Championship and then went on to earn a spot at the World Championship where they won second place for their project presentation! This year, the ShamRocks have again qualified for the FLL State Championship which takes place next week.
• • FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) is for grades 7-8…Our 4-Gear Clovers have won both of their qualifying competitions this season and are heading to the FTC State Championship next week. Two years ago, as rookies with only four members, the FTC team came in second at States, so we have high hopes!
• There is also a high school level, FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) in which all our area schools participate and have excellent teams. In fact, two of our local high schools are the current State and World Champions.

Through age-appropriate goals, our students are exposed to many skills as they build and program robots, attend competitions, and interact with other teams and judges. Working with adult coaches and mentors, they learn how function as a team, create projects, make presentations on specific research projects, engineering, coding, and CAD. It is in the best interest of our students to promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education so they are prepared for high school and college in our technology-driven world. Our teams have already been successful and won many awards even though our program is still young. The knowledge and experience these teams have gained is already paying off as we continue to learn and look to our future.

The cost of participating in these competitions increases with the various levels – construction materials, computers, team shirts, etc. Team members have a small registration fee, but this does not cover all the expenses involved. This is especially true if teams advance to the Championships as they have this year. If you have a STEM-related business or are interested in sponsoring our program, please email one of the contacts below or return the attached form to the school office. The end of the year is the perfect time to support our teams. It may be tax deductible and depending on the level of sponsorship there is various recognition of sponsors. Please see the form for details.

We would be happy to answer questions about FIRST or our school program. Please contact one of us if you would like more information, and we look forward to welcoming new sponsors soon.

Sincerely,

Your St. Patrick Robotics Coaches

Mike Larson, John Barta, Carol Brenner (FTC)

Matt Bombard (FLL Challenge)

Caryn Michalak (FLL Explore)

Clark Bradley (FLL Discover)