BadgerBOTS FRC Team 1306 Wins 2020 Regional Chairman’s Award
The FIRST Robotics Competition’s Chairman’s award is regarded with respect and admiration by the community. Winning this award acknowledges a team’s dedication to the program, the community, the students, and the future of the STEM field. As FIRST itself puts it, 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.” This honor recognizes a team’s devotion to something greater than themselves: the advancement of STEM, and ultimately the entire field of science.
BadgerBOTS FRC Team 1306 has dedicated our program to pursue this goal set before us by FIRST, and believe that our students can continue to inspire others and create a change that extends so much further than our team and just our local area. Since our team was founded, we have given back to the community in many ways, including volunteering at science fairs and expos around southern Wisconsin, establishing far-reaching connections. In addition to these efforts, we have also worked with numerous other groups such as Girl Scouts troops and other community organizations to help spark a change that, compared to many other cities, Madison still lacks.
Recently, our team has also branched out to influence policy. We attended the National Advocacy Conference in Washington, D.C., where we spoke with our Senators and Representatives regarding what we are passionate about: STEM Education. We collaborated with our peers on a national level, which motivated us to bring such change to the Wisconsin state-level government as well. Our efforts have already contributed to doubling the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction grant (name the grant), allowing them to double their support for STEM programs. Having achieved all this, our team still strives to do more. We hope to continue existing efforts and establish new projects to add to the advancement of STEM education in Madison, and we cannot wait to present these efforts next season!
BadgerBOTS started out in 2004 with FRC team 1306. Nowadays, students from nearly 10 Dane County schools comprise the team of nearly 30 students. For the past two years, 1306 has been meeting year-round to build their skills, manage their budget, and work on several community projects. We are a student led team in which mentors may not touch the robot.
For more information about the team, contact frc@badgerbots.org
Follow Us!