2020-2021 Competition Season Update
Girls of Steel’s 2021-2022 season was unique with its own set of challenges, but the pandemic helped the team learn to adapt to virtual settings and work efficiently. Despite these differences, we had another successful year with starting new projects, developing STEM and leadership skills, and ongoing communication/team events.
In the 2021 competition season, we competed in all three “FIRST at Home Challenges.” Girls of Steel is honored to receive the following FIRST awards this year:
The Regional Chairman’s Award, “The Chairman’s Award is the most prestigious award at FIRST, it honors the team that best represents a model for other teams to emulate and best embodies the mission of FIRST.” In the submission, we crafted the story of our unique sustainability as an all-girls team and our emphasis on diversity within our outreach, and all of that is attributed to all of the work done to continue with these goals.
The Game Design Challenge Engineering Design Award, for their game “AppleMania”, which “celebrates the team that demonstrates sound engineering in the design process.”
The Innovation Challenge Semi-finalist Award for their project, BuzzBand: An exercise motivator for youth with autism, “Semi-Finalists are teams that achieve excellence across all required criteria as described in the guidelines within a group.”
The Dean’s List Finalist Award for Miss Janise Kim: “The students who earn FIRST Dean’s List status as either a Semi-finalist, Finalist or Winner, are great examples of current student leaders who have led their teams and communities to increased awareness for FIRST and its mission while achieving personal technical expertise and accomplishment.”
A 2021 Detroit Championship Chairman’s Finalist Award!
Our end of year gala on May 15 honored each of our graduating seniors, who have made meaningful impacts to both our team and to the experiences of their teammates. We are so proud of them and excited to see what they achieve in the future! We were honored to have as our gala guest speaker, Dr. Wanda Heading-Grant, Vice Provost for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer at Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Heading-Grant gave advice to us as a team, and also guided us and encouraged us to use our voices, to be open and flexible, to keep asking questions, and to pay it forward.
Fifty students joined our FLL Explore Playmakers teams at 6 weekly meetings from April 18 to May 23rd. Each family received at no charge a LEGO Playmakers kit and an Engineering Notebook. On the last day we hosted a Demo Day and some of the students shared the “Show Me” posters and LEGO models they created.
The Girls of Steel Innovation Challenge team is still working on their BuzzBand project and has qualified as finalists for the MIT-Lemelson Foundation InvenTeams grant. The team is working on their final proposal which is due September 7th. https://lemelson.mit.edu/inventeams
Girls of Steel members are representing Pennsylvania at the 2021 Virtual FIRST National Advocacy Conference on June 30, 2021 along with Quasics FRC 2656 from Gateway High School and Mars Robotics Curiosity FTC team and will meet with PA Senators and Congressmen and/or their staff to advocate for increased appropriation of the Every Student Succeeds Act, also called “ESSA,” Title IV pt. A, Student Support & Academic Enrichment Grants.
Finally, we are moving forward with plans by the FLL subteam to host the following camps/events in August: – Introduction to Scratch Camp, GoSHacks Jr. , and our FLL Skills Camp.
