Outreach

We practice what we preach.

Team #3486 Outreach During the Freight Frenzy 2021-22 Season

March 2022 - Wings Over Columbus Airshow

It was an honor to be invited to the event that will host the world famous Thurderbirds. Wanting to showcase a variety of STEM opportunities beyond aviation, Team 3486 was invited to host a booth at the Wings Over Columbus's STEM Expo March 25-27, 2022. Currently 639 students, grades 9-12, will be visiting the booth on Friday. It is a fantastic opportunity to share with students and teachers alike the knowledge, skills and opportunities that we have gained by participating in the FIRST Tech Challenge robotics program.

February 12, 2022 - FIRST LEGO League Challenge Championship

One of team 3486's coaches is the FIRST LEGO League Program Delivery Partner in Mississippi. She relies heavily on 3486 to serve in many of the volunteer positions at FIRST LEGO League Challenge events during the season. Some of our volunteer roles require training. For instance volunteering as a referee requires studying the Robot Game Rulebook, learning the game updates and interacting with the students. Being role models of FIRST and inspiring these students is something we take seriously.

Every first event needs a dance party.

Robot game running smoothly.

Teams seated for awards.

January 2022 - FIRST Tech Challenge League Meet

Team 3486 hosted two FIRST Tech Challenge League meets on January 8th. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. The team set up the venue the evening before by building the field, setting up the inspection stations, using their muscle to move tables, alphabetizing the volunteer badges and putting signage in place. Lots of decisions needed to be made when making the Rankin County Safe Room perfect for all the teams in attendance. The volunteers were treated right with Chick Fil A for lunch! Best part of the day was being gracious as we ironed out bumps in technology and worked with other teams to make the day a success.

We are ready for teams and volutneers.

Scorekeeping is not for the faint of heart!

Team 3486 family and alumni volunteered

Team pits were busy.

December 2021 - FIRST LEGO League Challenge Qualifiers

Helping at a FIRST LEGO League event is something we really enjoy. It is great to see how excited and nervous the teams are when they come to an event. Refereeing, monitoring the practice fields, scorekeeping and escorting teams to judging are just some the things we do at an event. This year we volunteered at the Everything is Awesome qualifier on December 4th and the Loblolly qualifier on December 11th. Parents of 3486 served as scorekeeper and judges and lead queuers.

November 2021- Tour of John Deere plant in Louisiana

This was an amazing trip because 3486 was able to share its robot and engineering design process, was given a tour of the manufacturing facility and was able to ask a panel of engineers employed at the plant questions. During the tour, over and over again, Mr. Dan related what were doing in FTC to what was happening in the plant. We learned about Sugar Cane harvesters, John Deere's paint colors, and John Deere's commitment to inspiring youth. John Deere really rolled out the red carpet for team 3486! They truly embody the Core Values of FIRST

November 2021- STEM Class for Rocket Club

Stewpot in Jackson, Mississippi hosts an after school program for Jackson youth. Each Wednesday the students participate in enrichment classes at the Mississippi Children's Museum. Our team led classes with this group for the 3 weeks prior to Thanksgiving break. The kids were amazed at how tall a structure can be built with something as simple as index cards. Using cups and popsicle sticks we taught them about chain reactions. The final week we demonstrated our robot and gave them an opportunity to drive it too. We used this time to encourage them that they could one day build and program robots like us.

This team built the tallest, free-standing index card structure.

The kids LOVED the robot.

Teaching about chain reactions with cups and popsicle sticks.

October/November 2021 - - Mentoring FIRST LEGO Leage Explore team 7818

For nine weeks, we mentored FIRST LEGO League Explore team 7818, Robotic Builders. Each week we led them in learning a new Core Value, helped them build a model that was related to transportation of cargo and assisted them with coding their WeDo 2.0. Every week they came to meetings with so much enthusiasm, curiosity and out of the box ideas for innovating how things are transported. At the end of the season they were very excited about the distance sensor and how it can be used to make transportation safer. Parents of these team members plan to register a team next year. We grew the program!

Team 7818 Explaining its model to a spectator.

Team 7818's Show Me Poster

End of season team party. Eli wins for best clown face!

September 2021 - Children's Museum Science Fest

Usually Team 3486 would have a booth at Science Fest. This year there was a conflict with the FIRST Tech Challenge Kick-Off. We participated in the day prior to the Saturday Science table for field trip Friday. It was a smaller crowd but it gave us plenty of one on one time with the students. We let them try a team building activity and drive last season's robot. We had an EV3 robot to explain to them FIRST LEGO League Challenge, the FIRST program for their age.

We also met the Co-Lin Underwater Robotics team at the Field Trip Day. Team members came to our location and we explained the details of how our robot worked along with how we designed it.

Sharing our desing process with the Co-Lin Sea Wolves, underwater robotics team at Copiah Lincoln Community College.

Tamia demonstrating the robot and also letting students shot the orange rings.

Mary explaining how the team needs to work together to build a tower out of spaghetti and marshmallows.

June 2021 - Student Association for STEM Advocacy

The COVID-19 pandemic allowed us to participate in the SASA Conference because it was virtual. We didn't need to travel to Washington, DC to advocate for STEM with our representatives. We learned from SASA the ins and outs of speaking with our representative and practiced doing so. Meeting with the staff of Congressman Guest, Senator Hyde-Smith and Senator Wicker was a positive experience and demonstrated that our voices were heard and our opinions mattered.

Team #3486 Outreach During the Skytone 2019-20 Season

August 2019 - Mississippi Braves Game

Attended a Mississippi Braves game where Coach Jeff threw out the FIRST pitch. FIRST robotics was recognized due to Coach Jeff's hundreds of hours of service to FIRST as a coach.

We learned the night our coach through the first pitch at the ballpark that there are so many opportunities to share FIRST. Everyone in attendance learned about FIRST when Coach Jeff was introduced. Coach Jeff's introduction told why he donated so many hours to coaching Techno Warriors Advanced. Coach Jeff's company, Entergy, also featured him and what he does for FIRST in ean employee publication that is distributed throughout the company,

September 2019 - Mississippi Science Fest

On Friday, the team had a table for Field Trip Friday. Students interacted with the EV3, built houses and did LEGO STEM activities.

On Saturday, we let parents and students alike drive our demo bot. We explained how we build a robot to solve a problem. We convinced even the most apprehensive to give it a try.

At Science Fest, we talked about the different types of engineers who design so many things like roads, bridges, houses... the list goes on and on.

September 2019 - Tailgate Party at Castlewoods Senior Living Facility

We did a demonstration at a senior living facility. The residents were very interested.

Our tailgate was recognized for its enthusiasm.

Families of the residents were at the tailgate. A local high school band learned about FIRST. We reached a variety of youth in this unique setting

October 2019 - Demonstration at Flora Public Library

October 2019 - Nissan Family Day

One of our favorite outreach events is supporting our sponsor Nissan by participating in Nissan Family Day. This year we had three activities for Nissan employees and their families. We had a LEGO building activity. An EV3 LEGO Mindstorms robot programmed to retrieve candy and our FTC demo bot that anyone was welcome to drive.

December 2019 - CITY SHAPER FIRST LEGO League Qualifier in Grenada

Grenada Middle School and FTC Team Pure Imagination hosted the first FIRST LEGO League qualifier of the season. This was Grenada's first time hosting, so we supported this inaugural event for the Grenada community.

January 2020 - Trail Life Troop at Pear Orchard Presbyterian Church

At events like this, the parents are always as interested as the youth. Helping these Trail Life troop members earn a requirement for a STEM badge and sharing FIRST is a great way to spend a Monday evening.

January 2020 - CITY SHAPER Qualifier for FIRST LEGO League in Laurel

FIRST LEGO League teams work really hard to accomplish missions on the robot game field. As referees, we have to know the rules, how to build the models, reset the models and treat the teams with respect. It is a big job and one that all of us love and take seriously.

January 2020 - FIRST Tech Challenge Jackson Qualifier

January 2020 - CITY SHAPER CHAMPIONSHIP for FIRST LEGO League

This is a huge event and everyone has to complete the task assigned. We love seeing what the FIRST LEGO Leaguers accomplish and enjoy helping them celebrate at Championship.

Team #3486 Outreach During the 2018-19 Season

Summer 2018 - Mississippi Museum of Natural Science Fun Fridays

Summer 2018 - Robot Demonstrations in Ridgeland, Pearl, Laurel and Homeschool Kick-Off

September 2018 - The team taught 3 robotics merit badges to the Girl Scouts, 30 Juniors and 30 Brownies.

September 2018 - Nissan Engineers providing a tour of the Workforce Training Facility

September 2018 - Science Fest at the Mississippi Children's Museum

October 2018 - Sharing FIRST Tech Challenge at Nissan Family Day

November 2018 - Opening up our shop to FTC team 11375, Teen Tech

December 2018 Supporting the FIRST LEGO League INTO ORBIT qualifier in Laurel, Mississippi

December 2018 - Opening up our shop to team 13176, Spark O Matic

January 2019 - Hosting the FTC Rover Ruckus Jackson Qualifier

January 2019 - Opening up our shop to FTC teams 11375, Teen Tech, and 14073, VBM2, to help the teams add attachments.

January 2019 - Hosting the Everything is Awesome FIRST LEGO League INTO ORBIT Qualifier in Jackson, Mississippi

January 2019 - The Mississippi Museum of Natural Science invited Team 3486 to participate in its annual Family Night.

January 2019 Owen L. of team 3486 volunteered at the Mission Moon FIRST LEGO League Junior EXPO in Laurel

January 2019 - Team 6302, N.E.K.O.S. visits our shop to learn how to attach a lead screw to its robot.

February 2019 - Volunteering at the Mississippi FIRST LEGO League INTO ORBIT Championship. Team members served as queuers, referees, photographers, judging room timers and pit runners.

Central Mississippi Robotics and Team #3486 Volunteer at
FIRST Lego League Events 2017-2018

Students, coaches and mentors could be seen at numerous FIRST Lego League Hydro Dynamics Events. They served as queuers, referees, team escorts. They ran concessions and helped with set up, tear down and even built the judging rooms for the FIRST Lego League Championship.

Team Members constructed 6 judging rooms for the FIRST LEGO League Championship.

The FIRST LEGO League Championship is a celebration of Mississippi's FLL teams and it takes many volunteers to make it happen.

Volunteering at the Everything is Awesome FLL Qualifier in January 2018.

Volunteering at the Red/Blue Carpet Qualifier in Vicksburg in December 2017. These 175 students had a great time.

Sharing FIRST Robotics with the Community 2017-2018

When Central Mississippi Robotics has an opportunity to share the FIRST programs it does. The team shared FIRST at the C-Spire Science Fest, The Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, CHEC School Kick-Off and many other events.

Kids at the CSpire Science Fest were excited about the robot.

A single demonstration at the Medgar Evers Library caused the FTC team Spark-O-Matic to form.

Sharing at a homeschool kick-off added two members to the team.

Central Mississippi Robotics' team 3486 mentored Spark O Matic throughout the season.

Supporting Other Teams Through the Drive Train Product - Summer 2017 to 2018

Central Mississippi Robotics and Team 3486 have a drive train that works for nearly any FTC challenge. It is the drive train that the team builds. It built drive trains and sold them at cost to other teams. Teams had to assemble the drive trains according to a set of instructions that team 3486 wrote. This helped numerous Mississippi teams be more competitive this season.

Hundreds of hours were spent by the team designing, writing and them packaging drive trains for other teams.

This is the drive train that Central Mississippi Robotics designed for teams.

Coaching a FIRST LEGO League Junior Team During Aqua Adventure Season 2017-2018

Team 3486 sponsored, coached and mentored a FIRST LEGO League Junior team 7818, Aqua Engineers

Owen and Melea from FTC team 3486 met with the junior team on a weekly basis for 12 weeks and led the team meetings.

Team 7818 built models and programmed them using the Lego WeDo 2.0

Team 7818 and Its Model

Central Mississippi Robotics and TWA #3486 Help Students Try Engineering August 2015

This event took 8 students ages 6-9 and helped them explore engineering? What stresses do bridges experience? What shapes provide the most stability? How do robots work and where can they be found in our day to day lives. The excitement these kids have for creating was inspiring.

CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI ROBOTICS HOSTS Community FLL Tournament October 24, 2014

This event at the Brandon Elementary School has become a tradition for Central MS Robotics and its teams. There is nothing like the enthusiasm of dozens of 5th graders to remind you what is so incredible about FIRST LEGO League. The teams did not disappoint. All of them had innovative solutions to World Class and all of them brought their GP as well.

Calm Before the Storm!

Waiting for Judging

Robot Game

Everybody Loves a Dance Party

CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI ROBOTICS HOSTS Community FLL Tournament October 31, 2013

Congratulations to the Debris Dweebs and Robo Warriors! These two teams placed first and second respectively at the Brandon Elementary FLL tournament hosted by Central Mississippi Robotics on October 30, 2013. These teams will compete at the Central Mississippi FLL Tournament. This is a qualifying event for the Mississippi FLL Championship in March. Good Luck teams!

Central Mississippi Robotics Visits Greenville August 31, 2013

People all over the state are trying to impact and better the lives of youth. Team members from the Techno Warriors and Techno Warrior Advanced teams traveled to Greenville, MS on Saturday, August 31 to share FIRST with youth at the second annual Greenville Celebration of the Arts event. The annual event is sponsored by the Floyd and Bessie Johnson Foundation. The Floyd and Bessie Johnson Foundation's main purpose is to reach out to children particularly in at-risk communities to expose them to positive life development experiences. FIRST Robotics is definitely an organization that provides a positive life development experience for youth. By demonstrating the program at the event and sharing the program with attendees, the teams hopefully will inspire Greenville to participate in the FIRST program in the future.

Central Mississippi Robotics Hosts Local FLL Senior Solutions Tournament - November 2012

On November 14, 2012 Brandon Elementary Venture teams competed at their very first FIRST LEGO League qualifying tournament orchestrated by Central Mississippi Robotics. Team members from the FLL Techno Warriors and FTC Techno Warriors Advanced served as referees, time keepers, field re-setters, judging assistants and last but not least as ambassadors of Gracious Professionalism. A special thanks to the following judges who took the time to make this day an extra special one for the Brandon teams: Allison Miller, Dr. Lisa Byrd, Sherry Stewart, Tina Mason, Paul Stewart and Jacob Mason.

Hats off to Venture teachers Mrs Mabus and Mrs Stetson for their dedication to their students. This was their first year coaching teams and they coached in a big way. There were eight teams at Brandon Elementary including: Golden Strykers, Martian Mechanix, Robot Alien Dawgs, Workaholics, Polkabots, Robos in Black, Robo Dawgs, and Venture Mindstormers. Congratulations to all the teams. Champion's Award - Robos in Black; Champion's Award Runner-Up - Martian Mechanix; CoreValues - Polkabots; Project Award - Golden Strykers. Good Luck RIB and Martian Mechanix at the state tournament on December 1.

The day was pure excitement from beginning to end. It was the typical FLL tournament with high enthusiasm and energy. The day was a complete celebration of what these students had discovered by working through the robot game and project component of the Seniors Solutions Challenge. The teams also learned the meaning of GP and the FLL Core Values.

Jared, Niah and Camden prepare for the tournament.

Donna Mabus opens the day with a few words.

Tekoah braving the chilly temperatures.

Timothy all smiles as he queues the project judges' teams.

Olivia did a great job introducing the teams.

Robot Design

Core Values

Project

It is always a tense moment when waiting to see if the robot will accomplish a mission.

Techno Warriors reminding teams of judging times.

Waiting for the judging results.

Trophies!

Simon Says..

High Five line.

TIGERS (A Team of Inventors Growing and Exploring with Robotic Support)

Coach Jeff reviewed this year's missions with rookkie team TIGERS.

During the FLL season, Senior Soluntions, Central Mississippi Robotics invited rookie team TIGERS to several meetings. The purpose of the meetings was to assist the rookie team by sharing what our experience has taught us over the years.

The TIGERS had an awesome season. The team won a community championship in Starkville and won a Judges Award at the Mississippi Championship tournament.

Christian Home Educators Connection Kick-off August 2012

Central Mississippi Robotics table was busy, busy, busy.

Future Techno Warriors

The Techno Warriors and Techno Warriors Advanced teams set up a table at the CHEC kick-off. Nineteen families expressed an interest in Central Mississippi Robotics' program. Team members grew hoarse explaining and re-explaining the program. There is a lot to the program but attendees wanted to know all about it. There are so many aspects to the program. In addition to teaching the STEM sciences, team members learn to cooperate and work togethe towards a common goal of excellence. The team is always aware that part of the mission of FIRST is to pass what you learn onto others.

FTC Summer Training - July 2012

Summer is in full swing and some of the Techno Warriors Advanced team members are reviewing material previously taught while assisting rookie team members as they encounter the material for the first time. Meeting time is spent drafting the old fashioned way using the text Practical Drafting by Melvin Peterman and hand tools including T-squares, triangles, mechanical pencils and eraser shields. The team members are working through the PTC program CREO. The remainder of meeting time is spent on ROBOT C. The rookie team from Mt. Olive, Mississippi has been attending the training meetings.

Team members from Mt. Olive Ministries learn how to program using Robot C.

Mannie Lowe pays the team a visit.

Building together.

Testing the programs.

Fundraiser at Flowood, Mississippi Wal-Mart

The Techno Warriors and Techno Warriors Advanced held a fundraiser in front of the Flowood, Mississippi Wal-Mart March 11, 2012. The Techno Warriors brought their Food Factor robot, Colorbot, and set up the Food Factor field mat. The Techno Warriors Advanced brought their Bowled Over robot, George, as well. Time was spent either selling baked goods the teams prepared or spent sharing FIRST® with curious shoppers. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon spent promoting FIRST®. Both teams appreciated the generous donations received from supporters. The money raised will assist the FLL team, Techno Warriors, with the expenses of traveling to the 2012 Food Factor World Festival being held in St. Louis, Missouri next month.

Sharing FIRST at the Local Radio Shack in Pearl, Mississippi

Even though the temperature was only in the thirties, the Techno Warriors and Techno Warriors Advanced honored a commitment to share FIRST® robotics outside of a local Radio Shack. Thanks to Radio Shack for letting us set up and share FIRST®
with their customers on Saturday February 11, 2012.

Click on the link below to read a write up of the event on the The SHACK Blog.

http://blog.radioshack.com/2012/04/07/a-mississippi-radioshack-invaded-by-robots/

Robot Demonstration at Mississippi State University PAVE Kick-off

Tekoah assisted participants with the modification of a robot.

Mariah Smith instructing the FTC team members.

Olivia explaining how to build with LEGO parts.

Niah and Jacob sharing how to build with Tetrix.

There is nothing that Central Mississippi Robotics teams enjoy more than sharing the FIRST®robotics program with others. That
is exactly what the Techno Warriors and Techno Warriors Advanced had the opportunity to do today at the PAVE Kick Off in Starkville. PAVE, paving the way through 4H robotics, is modeled after the FIRST® robotics program and made available to 4-H
students within the state of Mississippi. The 4-H Robotics project is a joint effort between 4-H, Computer Services, and the Mississippi State University Extension Service. The acronym PAVE represents the many Parents, Agents (4-H), Volunteers, and Educators who donate time and energy bringing robotics to their counties. It was a privilege to share the FIRST® program with the 100 adults and youth in attendance. After demonstrating the FLL and FTC robots, the teams answered a variety of questions. They were asked things like: how long did it take to build the robot, how many kits were needed to build the robot, how expensive was it to participate, and did they use the instructions to build the robot. The crowd was extremely interested, gracious and curious. Mariah
Smith heads the PAVE project at MSU and does an awesome job. Check out the cupcakes she baked for the kick-off to go along with the Indiana Jones theme!!

Ms. Mariah's awesome minifig cupcakes.

Sharing with Others