This past Saturday, we volunteered at the FLL State Championship. On Friday, some of us helped set up, then the next day 25 of us (over 20% of the volunteer force) worked as FLL and Jr FLL judges, scorekeepers, referees, and videographers to keep the meet running smoothly. It was exciting to see how many young people were interested in creating robots, not to mention see how much fun the teams were having. We all had a good laugh at the very creative team names we saw.
Along with helping out, we were able to introduce many young engineers to FRC and our robot from last year. Some even got the opportunity to drive the robot themselves. They were full of excitement, interest, and questions.
We also got the opportunity to read one of our Riley Robot books, Riley Robot and the Race in Space. Riley Robot is a children’s book series we have created to help promote literacy through STEM team stories. Kids and parents alike really enjoyed the story, and we had the opportunity to talk with a published Alaskan author, Don Rearden, who will be a UAA (University of Alaska Anchorage) faculty member helping support our Riley Robot books moving forward.
