At our May 3 meeting the Safe Harbor Robotics Team presented their students who were part of the 2018 State Robotics Tournament Championship Team.In 2012, as the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics program celebrated its 20th Anniversary Season, MCAS Safe Harbor unveiled its Rookie Robotics Team. With a dedicated and talented team of high school students, the MCAS Safe Harbor Team 3936 earned the prestigious Midwest Region Rookie All-Star Award in Chicago and competed at the 2012 World Championships held in the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis. This year the Blitz Drive Team did a great job of navigating the Arcade to secure Power Cubes for the Vault and the Pit Crew kept their robot working through 18 matches over two days. Well done, Blitz!!
As part of the Safe Harbor Afterschool Program and Hours for Ours mentoring program, which champion youth-based science and engineering activities in an Afterschool setting, the robotics program was one of three Afterschool programs nationwide to be showcased in the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation Annual Report. Building on these accomplishments, the program was expanded to include the FIRST Lego League for Middle School students and the Junior FIRST Lego League for Elementary School students. Utilizing the proven FIRST Robotics suite of programs MCAS Safe Harbor is proud to begin inspiring engineers and scientists at the earliest stages of learning and then continuing to guide them through their high school years and on to their future roles as leaders in our communities.
The mission of FIRST 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. With the support of our community, family members and mentors, the MC Robotics Team strives to build up our community’s children, help develop leaders of the future and provide a safe place for learning and innovation.