Team 1629 can easily demonstrate how FIRST impacts the learning experience of the students, school curriculum, engineers, and/or community during the 2010/2011 team year as well as prior years with the following points:
The Growth of FIRST in Garrett County
1990 Garrett County Schools implement LEGO based Science, Technology, Engineering and Math activities into the classroom.
1994 Garrett County schools start Summer "Tech Camps" where students create and control LEGO based machines.
2002 Garrett County Schools begin to compete in FIRST LEGO League (FLL) competitions with one county-wide team.
2005 Southern and Northern Garrett High Schools form FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Team 1629.
2006 Garrett County Commissioners provide a home for the Garrett Engineering and Robotics Society (GEARS), a non profit
501(c)(3) organization which provides meeting space, expertise, and other support to some of Garrett County's FIRST teams.
2008 GEARS and 4-H partner together to start FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) Team 2818 known as G-Force.
2009 Hosted Garrett FLL Qualifier
2010 Seven FLL Teams, one FTC Team, one FRC Team
2011 Ten FLL Teams, two FTC Teams, one FRC Team (with 26 members!)
Garrett County is the largest county in the state of Maryland, but with the least population. It is located in the extreme western panhandle of Maryland up in the mountains at 3000 feet. The number one industry is tourism (Deep Creek Lake, Wisp Ski Resort, state parks, etc.) with the number two industry being agriculture (yes, we know the cows on a first name basis). Garrett County is surrounded by West Virginia on three sides, and Pennsylvania on the last side. We are part of "Appalachia" and all that is associated with it. Being in such a rural area, we experience many of the same challenges inner city schools do. However, FIRST has inspired many positive changes:
FIRST teams are considered equivalent to Varsity Sports, even to the point of academic eligibility.
FIRST teams are heavily backed by the Board of Education.
FIRST teams are heavily backed by the Garrett County Government.
FIRST teams have strong local business and government based partners.
FIRST team participants have all gone on to college many in Engineering (with only 20% of each graduating class going on to college, this is important).
Team Members Opportunities/Impact
College: 100% of our team alumni have moved on to a 4 year accredited colege. Almost all of them are studying in a field of science, technology, or math. In a rural area where 40% of the high school graduates have no post high school education plans or desires and only 20% move on to a full 4 year accredited college, this is a big deal.
Internships: Participation in the FIRST FRC Team 1629 provides exposure for our students to businesses in the surrounding area. Some of these businesses have contacted us and offerred intern positions. This is a GREAT experience for the team members who take the opportunity!
Guest Speakers: Team 1629 invites speakers to come talk to us about different technical fields. This helps broaden our minds in areas of science and technology that we generally are not exposed to. In some cases, it perks a member's attention enough that research is done in that field to see if it something they want to pursue. After all, it is not just about robots...
STEM Leaders
Team 1629 works hard to spread the word of FIRST in a variety of ways. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) efforts are one way we accomplish this.
Maryalnd State Department of Education (MSDE) has provided a $50,000 STEM grant to increase interest in STEM studies/careers. Team 1629 is taking an active role in this grant. The basic ideas is as follows:
- STEM assemblies at elementary schools for grades 3-5
- Afternoon follow-up after the assemblies with fifth graders for Lego based hands on
- Girls only workshops in the summers. The girls are recruited from the hands on activities above
Team 1629 will design the curriculum for the hands on activities described above as well as activities for middle shool (grades 6-8) at ASCI. The impact will be measured by monitoring the increase/decrease of STEM based careers that are declared by each student in the middle school classes.
