2013 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Today we are very excited and proud to announce that we will be leading the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with FRC teams 16, Raider Robotix - FRC Team 25, FRC Team 180 - S.P.A.M. andTexas Torque! Thank you to FIRST - For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology Southwest Airlines and FedEx for making this opportunity possible! 

Here is the official FIRST press release

Robots Come FIRST^® at Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade^®

FIRST^® Team Members and their Robots to Lead the 87^th Annual Parade 

in New York City with Help from Southwest Airlines and FedEx

November 07, 2013 01:52 PM Eastern Standard Time

MANCHESTER, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--FIRST^® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a not-for-profit organization founded by inventor Dean Kamen to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology, announced today that five award-winning FIRST^® Robotics Competition (FRC^®) teams and their robots will have the honor of opening the 87^th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade^® on November 28, 2013 in New York City.

“Tuning into the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is an American tradition, and this year the first thing people will see in the parade is FIRST. Thanks to Macy’s, we have the chance to pique the curiosity of millions of young people, as well as potential Mentors, Sponsors, and Volunteers.”

For nearly a century, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has been the official kick-off to the holiday season. Every year, this Emmy^® Award winning tradition is seen by more than 3.5 million people in New York and 50 million people at home, all tuned in to see giant balloons, one-of-a-kind floats, and now – robots!

Robots are no longer a sci-fi fantasy; in recent years, robots have become commonplace in many aspects of life, from cleaning floors to teaching in the classroom. Macy’s recognizes the importance and relevance of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) to their customers. Moreover, the company is sensitive to the need for STEM-workforce development, and understands that the key to expanding these fields is to inspire young people to take an interest in them.

“We are extremely excited and thankful for this unique opportunity that Macy’s has given us,” said FIRSTFounder, Dean Kamen. “Tuning into the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is an American tradition, and this year the first thing people will see in the parade is FIRST. Thanks to Macy’s, we have the chance to pique the curiosity of millions of young people, as well as potential Mentors, Sponsors, and Volunteers.”

Five FIRST Robotics Competition teams will proudly represent FIRST and its Progression of Programs with this trailblazing appearance, and will travel across the country to New York City to lead the historic parade.Southwest Airlines is the Official Air Travel Sponsor for this special appearance by FIRST teams, providing nearly $14,000 in round-trip air vouchers for the student participants and their adult Mentors. The teams’ robots will also travel for free thanks to complimentary roundtrip shipments from FIRST Strategic Partner, FedEx.

Award-winning FIRST Robotics Competition teams leading the 2013 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade include:

• Team 1538, The Holy Cows, from San Diego, Calif.;
• Team 1477, Texas Torque, from The Woodlands, Texas;
• Team 180, S.P.A.M., from Stuart, Fla.;
• Team 16, The Bomb Squad, from Mountain Home, Ark.; and
• Team 25, Raider Robotix, from North Brunswick, N.J.

At the beginning of each competition season, teams receive a “Kit of Parts” made up of motors, batteries, a control system, a PC, and a mix of automation components – with no instructions. Working with adult Mentors, student have six weeks to design, build, program, and test their robots to meet the season’s engineering challenge.

The robots leading the 2013 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade were designed and built for the 2013 FRC ULTIMATE ASCENT^SM season challenge, and have been modified by the students to perform tasks specifically for the parade. Texas Torque’s robot, “SONIC,” will cut the ribbon to signal the official start of the parade. Following the ribbon cutting, the other teams’ robots will shoot confetti along the parade route. Students will then drive their 12v battery-operated, 150-pound robots down the entire 2.5 mile stretch, ending at Macy’s Herald Square.

The 87^th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade will be aired live from New York City on November 28, 2013 beginning at 9 a.m. ET on NBC.

2013 Battle at the Border Recap

On Saturday, October 12, the gym at Francis Parker High School in San Diego was filled to the brim with students and robots for the third California off-season event this year: Battle at the Border.

Our team, Team 1538 - The Holy Cows and Team 2485 - W. A. R. Lords had the honor of co-hosting this action packed event. We had 29 California native teams attending and competing their hardest in the 2013 FRC game, Ultimate Ascent. Besides giving FRC teams something more to do during the Fall season, Battle at the Border is also the perfect event for helping team rookies to understand the competition process and see how their team works in its greatest moments.

We would like to congratulate the winning alliance: Team 3476 - Code Orange, Team 2485 - W. A. R. Lords, and Team 9399 (Team 399  B bot) - Eagle Robotics! We would also like to congratulate Team 3255 - SuperNURDs for the Gracious Professionalism award, Team 1538 - The Holy Cows for the Highest Quality award, Team 2485 - W. A. R. Lords for The Giving Award and Team 4322 - Clockwork Oranges for the Most Creative Robot award.

New this year, our team set up a webcast so friends, family and fans could watch from afar. Along with the live streaming, the matches were recorded and can be viwed here.

Battle at the Border continued its three-year partnership with the American Cancer Society and the San Diego Food Bank. We ended up raising $1000  for the fight against cancer and collected 100lbs of food for the hungry.

We would like to thank our great co-hosts for helping with running everything and Francis Parker High School for hosting the event. We would also like to thank George Chen and Jenny Yang for taking the time to announce the games. Finally, we would like to give a huge thank you to all the FIRST volunteers that helped us create another high quality San Diego FRC competition.

We wish everybody good luck for the 2014 season and hope to see everybody again next year.

- Nathan Rozenberg, Team 1538 - The Holy Cows Director of Public Relation

Chairman's Announcement

2013 Chairman's Video

Union Tribune Article

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/may/01/sd-school-wins-world-robotics-competition/#comments-module

SD school wins world robotics championship

Prize took more than building a machine for High Tech High Team

By Maureen Magee 08:35p.m. May 1, 2013

The status of the robotics team at High Tech High in Point Loma ranks so high, it just might be on par with varsity football in Texas.

So when the team known as the Holy Cows won top honors at the largest, most prestigious school robotics world championship in St. Louis this past weekend, it was a really big deal.

“Winning this award was quite possibly the proudest and happiest moment of my life. I still can’t believe it,” said Carmel Fiscko, 17. “It’s the first time I put so much of myself into working for a goal. It paid off in a way that has changed my life.”

The Holy Cows were among 58 of the best ranked robotics teams eligible to compete for the Chairman’s Award at the FIRST World Championship in St. Louis. All told, some 10,000 students from the U.S. and abroad participated in the competition before a crowd of 25,000.

The Chairman’s Award is the highest honor given at the competition, one that is awarded to the team “that best represents a model for other teams to emulate and best embodies the purpose and goals of FIRST.”

Here’s just a few of things that caught the judges eyes. The Holy Cows doesn’t just win competitions (it has five regional championships under its belt) it also mentors 47 other teams, offers workshops and developed a robotics smartphone app.

“We’ve been working toward this for years. It’s an amazing way to celebrate our science heroes and to help inspire our kids to get into science, technology, engineering and math,” said David Berggren, a High Tech engineering teacher and regional director of FIRST who helps coach the team. “Our robotics team is like our football team, it’s the most well-known and well-respected team on campus.”

The FIRST Robotics Competition — For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology — was founded in 1989 by Segway inventor Dean Kamen and MIT professor Woodie Flowers in an effort to promote science and technology. Student robotics have since taken off to the point that teams have become campus staples that are as common as organized sports, choir and Spanish club.

Robotics teams build and program robots that are put to the test in intense competitions. Students also take on academic and public-relations tasks that promote their club on campus and in the community.

High school teams get assistance from engineers, scientists, designers and other professionals who help students prepare for competition and perhaps a college education or career in a related industry. Many get corporate sponsors. The Holy Cows’ sponsors include Qualcomm, SAIC and Nordson Asymtek.

When it comes competition time, each team gets six weeks to build its robot, from the same set of parts, and program the 5-foot, 130-pound mechanical entries to complete certain tasks — this year it was tossing discs into goals. Those vying for the Chairman’s Award must also submit an essay, deliver a presentation and participate in a question-and-answer session with judges.

But winning isn’t everything in robotics. Teams must build alliances with other teams and they get rewarded for using strategies that demonstrate cooperation over competition.

The rise of robotics has been helped by a national push to get more students interested in STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — as the country seeks to improve its international status in these subjects that are increasingly essential to for students when it comes to college and careers.

For Carmel, the experience on the High Tech robotics team helped her decide to major in electrical engineering at UC San Diego, which she will attend in the fall.

“Robotics and meeting with people working directly in the field has really helped me figure out what kind of engineering I want to go into,” Carmel said.

High Tech High is one in a network of charter schools that — with technology — promotes project-based learning. Students often work on projects that combines disciplines, such as math and science.

“Our Holy Cows team really just does embody our commitment and passion for STEM education,” said High Tech Principal Brett Peterson. “It’s really just exciting to see an authentic application of math and science…”

President Barack Obama has lamented that lackluster math and science scores are hurting American students in their ability to take advantage of new jobs. He has called for the recruitment of 100,000 STEM teachers this decade.

A 2011 study by the U.S. Department of Commerce found that during the past decade, growth in STEM jobs was three times greater than that of non-STEM occupations. The report also predicted that STEM jobs would grow at a faster rate than others in the coming years.

Championship Chairman's Award

Words cannot describe how we all felt on the night of Saturday April 27, 2013 when our team was announced as the 2013 Championship Chairman's Award winner. We are all so humbled and honored to be in the company of so many great teams to have won this award before us. 

 

Once we were on stage we were so excited to be able to dance and celebrate the energy of the entire Edward Jones Dome, what an experience! Many seniors kept saying "This is the last time I will ever get to dance to this song and I am doing it on the championship stage, how cool is that?!?!"

Kaithlyn, Jeremy and Carmel were the face of our team in the judges room and as you can tell by the looks on their faces coming out of the judges room they were happy with what they presented.

The night we got to St. Louis Carmel began to say her throat was a scratchy, by Thursday (the day before they were all to do their presentation) she was not able to speak. She powered through 2 presentations that day with a very hoarse voice. She continued to rest it for the day and Friday for the presentation it was a bit better. The Chairman's group went in and presented at 11:30am on Friday April 26, 2013 and since you all know the outcome of their work you all know this girl is awesome.

Best Practices For Community Outreach

Outreach is how a team engages in the community, the effort it takes to reach out to both contacts and strangers, and its endeavours to spread awareness for FIRST and STEM. Here are techniques that The Holy Cows have found useful for outreach in our community.

General Volunteering Events (unrelated to FIRST)

• First find where you’re going to do your outreach. (See Creating Relationships in the Community) It’s very useful to build long-standing relationships and return to events annually, so the organization will become familiar with your team and so it’s easier for you to plan your yearly schedule.
• If you have the opportunity to promote FIRST at a non-FIRST event, go for it! Ask the organization to see if you can set up a table with flyers and interactive material. We like to bring square-bots to events at schools or community fairs; kids can drive the robots while parents learn about FIRST by talking to team members. During many events you won’t have the opportunity to set up your own table, so take that chance to simply have fun with the event, help out as best you can, and leave by making a positive impact on the community and the people hosting the event.
• Make it a priority to bring the amount of people that you say you will, and be punctual.

FIRST Events (FLL/FTC/FRC competitions, off-season competitions)

• Invite as many people as you can to come to the event. This may not be realistic for a FLL Qualifying Tournament (QT), but it’s a good idea for a FRC Regional. Every year, we invite as many people as we can to the San Diego Regional; sponsors, politicians, media, parents, our school, and the general public. You can do that through emails, social media (Facebook), and handing out flyers.
• If you have VIPs coming to a FIRST event (such as a politician, sponsor, or the media), make sure you have experienced members from your team to show them around, explain the event, and answer any questions.
• Find out if there are other VIPs coming that your team did not invite and see if there’s a chance your team members can talk to them. If another team invited the VIP, be respectful and don’t try to steal them away, but it’s always good to say hello and introduce yourselves.

Politicians

• If your team has no political contacts, start small and work your way up. It may take several years, but if you begin by talking to district education officials, you can progress to talking to general city officials, the mayor, and then eventually to the state department.
• City officials will be your best friends; though they are frequently busy, many of them have a strong interest in supporting STEM education, and they are more readily available than state officials.

• Invite politicians to major FIRST events. If you have an established relationship with a politician, make the invitation personal.
• Research or ask about how you could get a city FIRST Day declared. It differs between cities, but generally if you’ve found a contact who loves FIRST, they are happy to support it by declaring a city day.
• Never let a contact trail off. Email the politician at least a few times a year, and make sure to introduce new members as veterans graduate.

Media

• Like with politicians, start small. It’s much easier to get local or neighborhood newspapers to write an article about you (or accept an article that your team submits), and then work up to citywide papers as your team gains prominence in the community.
• Though we’ve found newspapers as the best place to start, also look at online news, television, and radios.
• If you attend professional conferences, many times media will also be present. Talk to them and build contacts.
• Again, invite the media to major FIRST events and make sure that you retain media contacts.

School

• Be involved! Make sure your school knows about you and is excited for you. Encourage your team members to talk to other students about robotics. Attend school-wide meetings and show off your robots. Have a display case with some information about your team and awards you’ve received.
• Have a school spirit day, and encourage people to come to the local regional (if close by). Around the time of the San Diego Regional, The Holy Cows host a school-wide meeting where we talk about the game, present our robot, and invite people to come to watch us compete. And of course - we’ve been advocating that on the day of our meeting, people come to school dressed in black and white, sporting cowbells and Holstein spots.
• Sell team merchandise! The Holy Cows have a supporter shirt that we sell to non-team members, which is nearly identical to team shirts but with inverted colors and without sponsors. Many students and parents have bought shirts, which is wonderful for both spirit and fund raising. Bracelets are also popular.

Sponsors

• Send out a monthly update to keep sponsors in the know of what your team is doing.
• Invite your sponsors to all major events, both to thank them and to show what you’re doing.
• Ask to see if any employees could mentor you during the build season.

Social Media

• Have an active presence in whatever social media is most convenient to you. Our most successful media is our Facebook page, where a team member or mentor can easily post pictures or status updates with a smartphone. Whatever social media becomes your favorite, make sure that you can and do update it regularly.
• On your social media, apart from posting about your events, make sure to include photos, videos, and material to interact with your followers.

Find a way to reach out to people who do not have social media. We send out a monthly newsletter from www.mailchimp.com that goes to our sponsors, alumni, and parents.