2011 Chairman's Award Submission

Who We Are
Five seasons ago the Broncobots were formed with one goal in mind: to build a robot. Five years later, that is the last goal in mind. Team 1987 has been transformed into a well-oiled machine dedicated to promoting Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).

Impact on Students and the Community
Students of our team, both former and current, have been deeply impacted by our program. Since 2007, twenty of our students have graduated, and twelve of those have gone on to pursue studies in engineering. Current members of the team have the same dedication to education. One of our members has earned the prestigious Engineering Student of the Year Award. Seven of our students have earned academic letters, and six of those possess grade point averages of 4.0 or higher. Additionally, four students are members of the National Honor Society (NHS), one of the highest honors in high school academia. The NHS selection process is based upon two FIRST principles: community service and leadership. Even when not acting on behalf of the team, our members are dedicated to helping the community. FIRST robotics has inspired our students to academic excellence.

Team 1987 is built upon the ideals of FIRST. Gracious professionalism and involvement in the community is the basis of our team. We encourage students to consider STEM fields as career opportunities, and as an extracurricular activity in school. This is accomplished through presentations at local schools. The team presents to students at local middle and elementary schools. Our presentations even convinced one local middle school to start their own robotics and CAD club. The club provides an opportunity for students to get a feel for the program before beginning high school. One student on our team also mentors an FLL team at a local elementary school. As a freshman, he had not experienced a build season but already felt the pull of FIRST and decided to volunteer. Thanks to his efforts, at least ten children have successfully experienced FIRST. Because of our efforts, countless youth have learned the value of education.

Broncobots participate in local activities such as the Missouri State Fair, Overland Park Balloon Festival, Oktoberfest, and the high school's Safe Halloween event. At these events, the robot is driven by the community. Our members are always ready to answer any question; be it about the robot, the game, or FIRST. It is in this way that the teams spread FIRST in a unique and ever constant way.

We also work with local robotics teams 1730 and 1986 to promote learning and engineering district wide. The best examples of this cooperative effort are the summer camps and community presentations held by the teams. The summer camps feature different tasks depending on the age group. They are tailored for students in fourth grade through middle school. The activities that the children participate in are modeled after the style of FIRST and vary in complexity. This allows the children to gradually acclimate themselves to the ideas of engineering, and the need for complex and creative ideas.

The three teams in our school district also attend an off-season competition called the "Cowtown Throwdown." The purpose of this event is to promote interest in FIRST and engineering by offering an opportunity where the public can experience the wonder of robotics. This competition is held at Cerner, a local software engineering corporation dedicated to improving our healthcare. At the competition, our members not only compete; they volunteer. For the previous three years, students and mentors from the three teams have served as judges, game officials, and coordinators of the event. They have even maintained the wireless network at the event.

FIRST has also provided the community with diligent workers. Due to their experience and values they have gained from FIRST, our former students have secured jobs at Apple, and Cerner. One alumnus is currently serving an internship at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab.

Role Model Characteristics
Our team works relentlessly to represent FIRST. We have created an extensive network of outreach that includes people from all over the world. We initiated a "Flat Mammoth" program that incorporates the traveling concept of Flat Stanley with the world of robotics. Since it debuted in 2009, Mammoth has been to Japan, Guam, Honduras, and to the Missouri House of Representatives. Included with the two dimensional image of the robot are packets with information about FIRST, our team, and our robot. The Broncobots are known for their valentines. Every year, we make and send over a hundred valentines to different groups. This year we donated them to local nursing homes. Another holiday tradition is to adopt a local family in need and purchase Christmas gifts for them. We have sent over 1500 letters to government officials, including our mayor, congressmen, governor, and President Obama. These letters invite them to attend FIRST events in their area, as well as invite them to view the FIRST World Championship in St. Louis. So far, responses have been positive. One person at a time, the Broncobots are making people passionate about FIRST.

Our website is also essential in our effort to communicate with the public. Online newsletters and YouTube videos state what is accomplished on a weekly basis, while the blog itself is reserved for daily updates. To date, the total views of our team's YouTube videos is 16,241 and it climbs daily. The blog has become a source of information regarding the evolution of not only the robot, but also the team. It reflects the aspirations, challenges and triumphs, as well as the failures of the team. Included on the website are informational instructions on how to make an effective judges packet, a guide to starting a successful letter campaign, and an instructional packet on creating an ongoing "flat" robot program. The website also includes a complete list of students, mentors, sub-teams, alumni, and information about FIRST.

The Broncobots have been included in several publications. The 2008 book FIRST Robots:Rack N Roll featured an article on our team's unique approach to engineering. We earned the Delphi Driving Tomorrow's Technology Award, and the book showcased our creative use of materials. However, our greatest example of FIRST in publication is a book created by members of our robotics family. Together, they worked to self-publish a book documenting our team's progress throughout the first four years. It includes information on the game and the robot for every season. Also included are CAD drawings, rendered images from our animation, and most importantly: written testimonials from the students. It even includes a foreword from the authors themselves. The book is an inspiration to not only the members of our team, but to anyone who reads the book. This is because the book focuses on the challenges that we faced, and how we overcame adversity-an important and universally understood principle.

Team 1987 has been instrumental in the development of metro teams. We have encouraged local engineering firms such as Honeywell to donate over $21,000 to existing teams in 2009 and 2010, and $20,000 to the Greater Kansas City regional over the same period. The team has recruited over 50 new mentors to help 25 area robotics teams.

The Broncobots mentored Team 2894 (ACE Robotics). In conjunction with Team 1730, we have helped them to succeed. They have learned valuable skills from our members including: CAD, build, public relations and website construction, and team organization. Our team even hosted ACE Robotics's web page on our own website for a year. Because of our team's efforts, FIRST has gained another team and more students can share in the FIRST experience.

Perhaps one of the most significant events in our team's history is the creation of the Lee's Summit R-7 Alliance. This was formed by the three local teams (1730, 1986, and 1987) in order to aid in the communication and spread of FIRST and its ideals. Members of the Alliance sit on a board and coordinate events that feature the three teams. Business plans are created, and the sustainability of not one, but three teams is made possible. However, the ultimate goal for the Alliance is to spread information about the FIRST program, and alert the community to the importance of it. In this way, a widespread logistical approach to spreading FIRST is made possible.

Finally, Team 1987 would like to give thanks to our sponsors. Without their aid, we would still be dreaming of touching the stars instead of reaching them. Regardless of the amount donated, our sponsors receive not only a space on the robot, website, and banner, but in our hearts as well.

Why We Are Here
Five years ago our team was founded by students with a vision. Over the last four years that vision was fostered and expanded upon by the founding members. This year everything changed. The seniors who founded the team as freshmen graduated, which left our team without their guiding light for the first time in our history. The members that remained wondered if we could go on. It was at our darkest moment that the light of FIRST touched us again. We realized that this was part of the FIRST experience, and that difficulties such as these are part of what drives teams to succeed. Our students began working with increased passion. Because of the overwhelming efforts of the students, Team 1987 has personified the phoenix; rising from the ashes of our old team and aspiring to greater heights than ever before.