GPS Robotics Parent Night

On October 3rd, we held our very own GPS Robotics Parent Night.

The purpose of this “Parent Night” was to inform parents of, and discuss the motives of GPS Robotics, and to address any concerns the parents had with the club. Each of the topics discussed were presented by one of our very own presidents. The topics discussed with parents are as follows.

VEX Competitions

Team president Diana Bisekeeva presented information about our future VEX competitions. These competitions have tons of principles and information that is crucial for parents who want their children to be involved with a competitive robotics team. This information is as listed below.

What is VEX? – VEX is a robotics program, offered in many schools globally, that gives students the hands-on experience that is needed to pursue career in STEM. VEX competitions encourage students to work cooperatively to create robotic systems and win the VEX Competitions.

Competition Rules – The VEX Competition game this year is High Stakes. The game involves a scoring system, build requirements, and much more. All of this information can be found on the VEX Competition Overview linked below.

https://www.vexrobotics.com/v5/competition/vrc-current-game

Opportunities With VEX – There are a plethora of opportunities that come with competing in VEX. This includes but is not limited to:

Job Opportunities
Scholarships
College Applications

FIRST Competitions

Team president Allan Guzman presented the information regarding the FIRST Robotics Competitions. This information is as listed below.

History of FIRST – FIRST is a global robotics community founded in 1989 that offers opportunities to compete and display your talent in a world-wide competition. The whole history of FIRST can be found in the link below.

https://www.firstinspires.org/about/history

Companies That Sponsor FIRST – There are numerous companies that sponsor and fund the Global FIRST Competitions. Some notable sponsors include Apple, Ford, NASA, Disney, and Google. The full list of sponsors are linked below.

https://www.firstinspires.org/about/our-supporters/founding-and-strategic-sponsors

FIRST Regionals – Out of around 600 teams that can sign up for the FIRST Competitions, only about 40 – 70 teams make it to the regionals. In these regional FIRST Competitions, teams from around the world compete to win the FIRST Impact Award, alongside other awards for select teams and people. These awards are highly prestigious and recognized by colleges and jobs as a valuable experience.

Engineering Workspace

Our engineering teacher Mr. Papadopoulos, offered a tour around the engineering workspace to the parents. Mr. Papadopoulos dove into how these machines will benefit the GPS Robotics team, and informed how experience in the workplace will profit team members, by providing vital workplace experience.