Outreach
FIRST® Tech Challenge Championship
Our team had the honor of holding the FIRST Tech Challenge District Championship for the Chesapeake District. Members of our team worked as referees, field resetters, pit managers, concession workers, lounge managers, and more important jobs to ensure that everything ran smoothly. By hosting this event, we were able to grow as students, teammates, and members of the FIRST community. We promoted collaboration between the FTC teams through the coach lounges and discussion rooms, where coaches were able to share information about their robots and programs. We also supported a partner organization Bello Machre by donating the money we earned from the candygrams. Through the support of our school, coaches, and community, we were able to make this event a huge success.
Gears In Motion (GIM) is a STEM activity geared towards elementary school students to teach the importance of working together like gears in a system. It centers around the GIM robot, a gear-based toy that was designed, CADed, and 3D printed by members of 4541.
To learn more about the Gears in Motion program, click the picture of the GIM Bot.
OUR TEAM HAS COMPLETED OVER 2500 SERVICE HOURS IN THE PAST YEAR!
WITHIN FIRST
Catholic Robotics League
The Catholic Robotics League (CRL) is a unification of the schools in the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore through robotics/STEM. CRL was founded in 2017 through the efforts of 4541 and has helped expand both STEM and FIRST in our community. The goal of CRL is to inspire, develop, support, and engage competitive robotics teams within the Catholic school system. We do this by providing financial assistance and networking opportunities for students, teachers, coaches, and mentors to foster camaraderie, competition, and compassion within our community. In the past, we have hosted scrimmages, workshops, STEM nights, robot demonstrations, expositions, and community service events.
Robotics Mentoring Program
A responsibility we took as a team is the mentoring of FIRST teams in our community. Within our program, we send small groups of our members to middle/elementary schools in the Archdiocese of Baltimore to guide teams and new coaches in their build and competition seasons every week. Mentorship makes FIRST more accessible to schools that don’t have robotics because it allows STEM teachers and school administrators to feel that there’s no risk in starting a FIRST team. Through this program, we can directly interact with the schools we serve and this allows us to provide resources like technology, information, and experience to member schools.
WITHIN THE COMMUNITY
Thanksgiving Meals
Our team often bands together to give back to the community that has already done so much for us. In recent years, we have gotten together for Thanksgiving to pack meals for homeless people in the Annapolis area. Through the St. Vincent de Paul Society and Bello Machre, we are able to pack and deliver over 500 bags containing full dinners for less fortunate families every single year.
Engineering Service Society
Engineering Service Society has the goal of helping people in need through organizations like Bello Machre and Go Baby Go. Bello Machre, a long-time partner of the 4541 robotics team, offers people with developmental disabilities the opportunity to live full, independent lives. Go Baby Go is an organization that allows us to modify Power Wheels ride-on cars into therapeutic, motorized wheelchairs for kids that cannot walk or have trouble walking. ESS is very successful at getting more people involved in engineering because it is a smaller commitment than FRC, is for a good cause, and allows people to give back to the community.
Gears In Motion (GIM)
Boys and Girls Club
Our team partners with the Boys and Girls Club of America at the Severn locations. Many rookie and veteran members of our team signed up to mentor at our two local Boys and Girls Clubs, committing to volunteer an hour every Wednesday during our meetings to aid in STEM-based activities with the kids. They teach the kids about STEM, robotics, and the power of teamwork. At the last session, we bring our Gears In Motion program to further push the idea of turning together like gears in a system.
Girl Scouts of America™
Our team also partners with local Girl Scout troops to present our Gears In Motion program. We visit different troops during one of their meetings and teach the scouts about STEM. We show the scouts the presentation about gears, demonstrate how to assemble the toy, and assist them in the building process. We also have a Q&A section, where we ask the Girl Scouts if they have any questions about robotics, FIRST, or STEM. We hope to inspire the children to consider robotics as they discover their passions.
Kennedy Krieger
Team 4541 started a new tradition by participating in the Kennedy Krieger Tree Festival, the largest charity-auction on the east coast. The festival featured over 800 unique trees, all to support the children of the Kennedy Krieger Institute. Designed by 4541 team members, the 2019 Choo-Choo Tree took 3rd place in the Created by Children category.
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