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GoSHacks Jr.

9/5/2021

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From August 13-14, 2021, Girls of Steel successfully launched GosHacks Jr.– our first-ever hackathon– reaching 39 registered participants, receiving 20+ official project submissions, hosting 7 student-led workshops and panels with 5 Girls of Steel members as mentors, and distributing $400+ in awards and prizes donated by GitHub and Girls of Steel.  Participants were divided into three divisions: Division I (K-2), Division II (3-5), and Division III (6-8).  A Grand Winner, First Runner-Up, and Second Runner-Up were selected from each division; additionally, the mentors selected a recipient of the Mentor’s Choice Award. 
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Girls of Steel Hacks Jr. (GoSHacks Jr.) is a specialized virtual hackathon for students in grades K-8; GoSHacks Jr. aims to extend the opportunity for younger students in elementary and middle school to participate in hackathons, which are conventionally limited to older students.  At GoSHacks Jr., a specific theme or challenge was presented, to which participants were given six hours to innovate, design, and submit a solution consisting of a written proposal, a recorded pitch, and a student photo.   This year’s theme was “Save the Animals!”, where students were tasked with brainstorming and creating a project in Scratch that teaches people about an endangered species.  Watch the highlight reel of our hackers hard at work below!

Throughout the hackathon, various student-led workshops and informational seminars were held to ensure that all students are equipped with fundamental programming, leadership, and problem-solving skills.  Our mentors led events including an “Introduction to Scratch” Workshop, a “What is FIRST” Informational Session, a “Girls in STEM” Q&A Panel, and a Keynote Speaker, Ms. Sarah Withee, Girls of Steel mentor and Software Engineering Consultant at 18F
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We were so excited to see our students’ enthusiasm for innovation and creativity! 
“I am having a good time with this project.  I’ve never used Scratch before, so I needed help from my dad and sister.  Now I am going to do this every day, it is so fun!” wrote one student. 
“This was a really amazing experience for me,” reflected a Girls of Steel mentor, “It’s so rewarding seeing the students’ dedication and pride in their own work.”
A HUGE congratulations to our awardees, listed below, and all our amazing participants!
DIVISION I:
Grand Winner – Justice P., grade 1
First Runner-Up – Dimitri J., grade K
Second Runner-Up – Elleanora P., grade 2
DIVISION II:
Grand Winner – Alice T., grade 4
First Runner-Up – Jason Z., grade 5
Second Runner-Up – Evalina P., grade 5
DIVISION III:
Grand Winner – Özge U., grade 7
First Runner-Up – Meera K., grade 7
Second Runner-Up – Ava M., grade 8
MENTOR’S CHOICE AWARD: Rosalie P., grade 5
Check out the awards ceremony slides and view video submissions of the awardees here.
Contact us at girlsofsteelrobotics@gmail.com if you have any questions about us or about the hackathon.
This blog was written by a member of FRC team 3504. If you are interested in blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule!
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A FIRST Story

8/17/2021

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I'm sitting there in the stands watching as the match starts. It's the 2019 Forest Hills tournament in Michigan. As the sandstorm begins our robot moves to place a hatch panel but not this round, it sits there idle. I watch thinking maybe nothing’s wrong, maybe, but as the sandstorm period ends it's still sitting there. The controls system advisors come over to help troubleshoot and figure out what is wrong with the robot. The light is on, it has power, so what is wrong with it? Computer issue? Driver Station malfunction? As the match nears the end there are still no answers and it still has not moved. I sat on the edge of my seat ready to sprint down the bleachers as soon as the match ended to help in any way I could. 
My name is Bridget, and I am a member of That ONE Team, Our Next Engineers. This is my 3rd year in FIRSTⓇ. As I sat trying to write about how FIRST had impacted me, I was not feeling it and with the deadline fast approaching and gone, to get it turned in I settled on my story, my FIRST story, which in a way could be an impact story. 

              As I look back, FIRST was everywhere and I never noticed. When my family went to Washington DC for a conference there was a FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) team there that let us drive their robots and raffled off LEGOⓇ Mindstorms robots (one of which I won and still have). The summer after 6th grade I went to a STEPS camp for girls, where we built model planes and there was a FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) team there showing off one of their robots and letting us drive it and shoot a ball. When I was in 8th grade I joined a robotics class where we learned how to build and program LEGO Mindstorms. During this class That ONE Team came and showed the 2018 robot that played on the Einstein field at Championships. But all I cared about was the robot and how badly I wanted to know if the green compliant wheels were squishy or hard. So I grabbed a business card and off I went. 
In September of my freshman year of high school I had completely forgotten about the team I so wanted to join until my dad had asked if I wanted to join Odyssey of the Mind that year, and remembered about the business card and contacted the team. From there I attended meetings and found out that the green wheels on the robot were in fact squishy. My freshman year I was on the fabrication team and soaked up as much information that I possibly could about how the robot worked, how to fix it, and how to build it. That year I learned many important lessons and skills that I still use today. 
The second year, I took up the lead role on the fabrication sub team. Even though as a leadership team we didn't set anyone to be in charge of a set subteam, we all assigned ourselves to the group we were on and took charge. I helped build the timeline and give everyone tasks. That year (2020) we had a lot of new students and fell behind in our time line. We got the robot done mostly on time and had a competition in Canada before COVID-19 shut down the world. 
This year (2021) I learned alot about the timeline, how important deadlines are plus how fast they pass, how to run a standup meeting, and how to keep everyone engaged, attach the radio to the robot with something more than the dual lock, and that Zoom sucks. This was my third year and my team was fortunate enough to be able to meet in person without a COVID outbreak within the team. I took on the new responsibility of co-captain, with the other being one of my best friends, Anna. Together we continue perfecting the art of standup meetings and adapting them to meet the needs of the team. I also continued to help lead the fabrication team. This season we still had issues trying to meet deadlines, but got the robot done with its fair share of issues and with barely enough time to get the videos submitted for the Infinite Recharge at Home judged awards. Though we did not get to go to a tournament this year, it was still one full of learning.
As I am looking into my 4th and final season on the team as a student, I am looking forward to an off season competition that we are attending and the hope of in-person tournaments and attending worlds.

This blog was written by Bridget L. from FRC team 4967. If you are interested in blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule!
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A Year of FIRSTs: The Impact of FIRST Girls in 2020-21

8/17/2021

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This past year or so has been a year of many firsts, although not in the way most of us would have wanted. Schools were closed. Vacations were cancelled. To avoid was to care. However, despite the cancelled plans and the isolation, this year was also a year for FIRSTⓇ, a year in which teams from all around the world found creative ways to make an impact. As competition season closes, let’s take a look back at all the wonderful things FIRST – and the wonderful girls who are part of it – have accomplished, and celebrate what the diverse and resilient teams have done to help close the gender gap in STEM fields.
    First of all, let’s take a look at the impact FIRST has had on girls. According to the FIRST Impact study for 2020, 46 percent of the participants were girls. This is amazing, especially considering that, according to the US census, only 27 percent of workers in STEM careers are female. While it’s true that not all the students in FIRST robotics will move on to partake in these areas, it does show that participation offers a welcoming and equitable community for both genders.
    Next, let’s look at the impact these girls have gone on to make. Through FIRST, many of these girls are getting the opportunity to make a splash in big ways. Dolphin Droids, an all-girl FIRST Tech Challenge Team (FTC), made the news some weeks ago for winning third place in the Connect award. The Missfits, a girls’ FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) team, caught the attention of a journalist, and a documentary was made on their 2019-2020 season. The Afghan Girls Robotics Team, another all-girls FIRST Team, took the pandemic as an opportunity to save lives, designing a low-cost ventilator. This team faced many hurdles on its path to success to boot: They were not even allowed to compete in the U.S. initially, and had to fight for the right to participate. Now if that’s not girl power, I don’t know what is!
    That ONE Team 4967, the FIRST Team I am part of, has always recognized the importance of girls in FIRST. In fact, we wouldn’t exist without one! Founded by Tami Hartley, or, as we all like to call her, Mrs. Coach, That ONE Team is currently led by two female student co-captains, and it has been one of the best resume-building experiences of my life. It was through FRC that I first met another girl who shared my interest in aerospace engineering, and it was through my time participating that I got hands-on experience in embedded controls programming and leadership within STEM fields. Although I have only participated during 2020 and 2021, my team, like countless other FIRST teams around the world, did not let the pandemic stop them from achieving their objectives, and kept busy when last year’s competition was cancelled by making PPE for essential workers.
     What does all this demonstrate? FIRST has the potential to make a serious difference when it comes to women in STEM fields. The statistics clearly show that, afforded the opportunity, resources, and information, girls are just as willing and capable as boys at participating in engineering and other STEM matters. And yet, despite this, if we look at the field of aviation alone, women constitute only 18 percent of aerospace engineers, and a mere 5 percent of pilots. This is not from a lack of skill, either; women are equally well-performing in these fields. The issue, or at least from what I’ve seen as an informal math tutor at my school, is a combination of confidence and exposure.  By providing girls with a safe, open environment to test the waters of engineering, FIRST Robotics could be a real force for change within the workforce, helping girls realize their dreams one robot at a time.

Sources:
2020 Impact Study 
Career Demographics 
Dolphin Droids
Afghan Dreamers 
Missfits’ Documentary 

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This blog was written by Raven N. from FRC team 4967. If you are interested in blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule!
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Why Lady Cans wear pink

8/17/2021

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FRC 2881 The Lady Cans, a team from Austin, Texas, wear hats, and each member begins their hat with duct tape, scissors, and a hat of their choice. The first stripe of duct tape is always Safety Pink, which repeats after our green, blue, orange, and purple stripes (“PGBOP”)--similar to the pink polyester of our team shirts or the pink LEDs on our robots, but neither color exactly. We aren’t just one type of pink, though Safety Pink is the correct pink.
If you pass our pit during competition or visit our build space, we’ve got pink bow ties, batteries, and tool drawers. Our pink isn’t for girls, it’s for girl engineers and builders. The sexist, pink packaging, which our female stereotype is “supposed” to use, was pink because pink was for girls and everything else wasn’t. So we made our hats, tools, and robots pink, and therefore robotics was for girls, too.
In the early days of our team, we wore many shirt colors from blue to orange, but we were never able to stand out from the crowd. In 2014 we chose Safety Pink and we not only had a visual impact, but we also glowed. We begrudged pink before we loved it, disinclined to wear a color that didn’t want us building, programming, or getting our hands dirty. Pink was for girls, and we weren’t trying to make ourselves different from anyone else. Pink was the sexism of one girl engineer among teams of boys, but sexist pink wasn’t the only pink. 2014, we wore loud pink, feminist pink, neon pink, STEM pink, and Lady Can pink, reinventing the middle and high school girl into a girl who could be on a robotics team without rejecting their femininity and other female peers.
We were pink for good. Now, when new things are pink-less, we get another roll of duct tape and make the patriarchy a little pinker.
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This blog was written by a member of FRC team 2881. If you are interested in blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule!
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Girls who Code Outreach

7/14/2021

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Our girls (FTC Team 7444 - Sisters of the Motherboard from Winston Salem North Carolina, USA) had the opportunity to partner with the Carver School Road Public Library to work with local schools in the Girls Who Code program. We held this program once a month at the Carver School Road Library starting in October of 2019 and ending in March of 2020 due to the pandemic. We plan to run this program again in the future.

On Day one, young girls were able to learn how to code through operating mini robots, doing mazes, and even had fun bowling with Spheros! The group of 6 girls in attendance got to learn the inside of a robot by looking at parts of a computer and 3D printer on Day 2. They also learned a bit about binary code, as it was a very interesting topic to them. Over the course of the program, they even got to create their own programs! The Girls Who Code program has been a very worthwhile experience for our team, and we would gladly do it again. We encourage other teams to look into the program and contact local libraries or elementary schools to try and connect younger girls to STEM. 

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This blog was written by a member of FTC team 7444. If you are interested in blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule!
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Team recruitment-A time for opportunities!

7/5/2021

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One of the most important elements in recruiting for your robotics team is seeking passionate students in various areas of interest, bringing them on board and providing opportunities for growth.  Often students just entering high school do not have a deep understanding of various areas of work, however, they do know what they like to do,  what they're good at and how they like to spend their time.  Keying into these facts  and illustrating opportunities in recruitment is very important.  

At recruitment events it is important a team do the following things:

1.  Bring a robot and safely set up a demonstration with safety cones and human safety captains at key points to ensure crowd safety.  Then show that robot off!

2. Set up posters and displays with lots of pictures -- so students can see what robotics is about!

3.  Lay out some high quality, information packed literature: business cards, brochures, and recruitment contact information.  If possible print up a small item with your website and recruitment window dates printed on them: notepads, mini toys, pencils, etc. 

4.  Feature a "girl's" display.  Design an area that will call them over and give them permission to linger.  Post a girl in that area to answer questions and talk with interested girls.  Include any trophies or photos from All Girls Events.  List ancillary events like Girls Driving Practice, All Girl Competitions, and Girls Who Code events.

5.  Run a looping slide show featuring the diversity in your team through photos, films and programs. This gives students the opportunity to see students from all races, genders, and identifications.  They will see others like them learning and having fun!

When it comes to showing what a robotics team can do for girls in particular, this is very important. Girls must see options because not all girls feel the same.  Some teams might focus on what they think might be girl type activities and channel girls towards those areas.  Perhaps areas in the soft skills: communications,  presentations, art, writing, maybe even finance, and these areas might be good starting points for some girls -- just as they are for some boys. However, other girls might feel frustrated that they are really being misunderstood or being held back.  Don't allow this to happen.  Some students come to teams wanting a technical-only experience, and it is okay.   They want to get into the mechanical assembly room and the machine shop.  They want to learn the technical elements of an electrical board or programming code.  This is a good thing! I once had a custom built work bench for a girl in a wheelchair.  She wanted to be on the mechanical team, and she was good at it!  It is important that we understand students must be allowed to begin the work in the areas that they are passionate about.  A mentality of saying when a student is young or of a certain class standing in school  or a certain gender that they will be placed in a seemingly  appropriate area of the team is wrong.   I once heard a coach say " Kids that join my team do not touch the robot the first year.  They start in  support areas and stay there for their first year." I was a young coach when I first heard this but it stuck with me because as a teacher  I believed it was wrong.  Now I know it is wrong.  Let the individual evolution begin!

In all of my years of administering and coaching  FIRST robotics teams,  I have felt strongly about providing opportunities for each student in their area of interest.  That is the Willy Wonka Golden Ticket on a robotics team.  Flowers thrive in a garden perfect for them, and there they will be happiest.  Same as team members!   Students, boys and girls, must be able to pursue interests that they feel passionate about.  When you allow that to happen amazing things will take place.  The scary part for leaders is we don't feel control over it-- but that is okay, too.

It is very important that a recruitment program respectfully -- with no assumptions where female recruits are concerned, provides opportunities for students and rather than offering a robotics program to students that dictates student involvement according to student’s age or gender, but one that explores possibilities for each student in their interest and directs passion, develops work ethic and teaches discipline for when on occasion other work for the team must be done -- everyone understands passions must be set aside and everyone must  step up to the work at hand -- like a team!

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This blog was written by Isolina C.  from FRC team 2832. If you are interested in blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule!
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The Sun Queen

4/27/2021

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Today we would like to highlight an important woman in STEM: Maria Telkes, also known as the “Sun Queen”.  She was a Hungarian born on December 12, 1900 in Budapest who became a highly respected figure for her focus on solar energy. 

Throughout her career as a physical chemist and biophysicist she invented many devices based on solar energy and is best known for her inventions of the solar distiller and solar powered heating systems. Before her solar years, Telkes had an interesting background. Having graduated from the University of Budapest with a BA in 1920 and a PhD in 1924, she landed her first job as an instructor at the university. 

Later, Maria decided to immigrate to the United States and soon after obtained a position as a biophysicist for the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. Telkes worked with American surgeon George Washington Crile, to invent a photoelectric mechanism that could record brain waves. That same year Telkes received her citizenship and became a research engineer at Westinghouse Electric where she would begin developing instruments to convert heat into electrical energy. 

It was not until after that she began her true research on solar energy. Telkes began her research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology  as part of a team where they developed thermoelectric devices powered by sunlight but was soon transferred to the US office of Scientific Research and Development. Here Telkes created her most important invention for the Navy, a solar distiller, a mechanism capable of evaporating seawater and condensing it into drinkable water. Telkes devoted her career to working with solar energy, creating various inventions that would help thousands of people. Until the end of her career, Telkes would develop solar energy applications and received several patents for her work. 

At a time when it was rare for a woman to pursue a career, let alone in science, Maria was a trailblazer who left an indelible mark in her field. Additionally, she is inspiring because her career path shows that one’s focus and areas of interest can change over a lifetime and isn’t set in stone.

Sources: 
https://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/maria-telkes
https://www.invent.org/inductees/maria-telkes https://www.britannica.com/biography/Maria-Telkes
This blog was written by Amy M.  from FTC team 15333. If you are interested in blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule!
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Creative Outreach Ideas

4/23/2021

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While performing outreach during the COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenge, our team has found it beneficial to focus on planning and preparing for future events during this season. Usually plans are made closer to the event, so we hope that our proactive attitude this year will help everything go more smoothly later. Here are some ideas that our team has come up with. 

For starters, our robotics team has an annual summer camp where we teach younger kids STEM related activities. These activities can range from creating geometric art, to building structures out of household objects, to learning about simple coding. All of these activities are facilitated by robotics team members and mentors that aim to spread the message of FIRST and encourage younger kids to learn about the STEM field. 

Additionally, we have begun to brainstorm some ideas for virtual activities so that we can communicate with our local community by zooming with local elementary school classes. We also have thought about reaching out to our local libraries and science centers to see if they would be interested in collaborating with us. Readers - what virtual activities have worked for you?

Finally, we are currently planning activities for our local cadets and juniors from girl scouts. These activities will be geared towards completing and receiving the badges for robotics and coding.

​This blog was written by Amy from FTC team #15333. If you are interested in blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule!
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All Girls School and Robotics

3/20/2021

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When you hear the phrase “all girls” whether it's schools or robotics teams what do you think of? Many people have misled notions about what it means to be part of an all girls school or team. One of the biggest criticisms I have heard people voice is that there is an immense amount of drama in an all girls environment. As a Junior at Salem Academy, an all girls school, I can say that the notion that all girls schools are filled with drama is the farthest thing from the truth. Attending an all girls school creates an incredibly strong community, filled with confident young women who believe in themselves, what they can do, and they use that confidence to boost up the young women around them. I have personally seen the positive impact an all girls environment has had on the development of other girls confidence and abilities.
I can especially feel the sense of community in an all girls robotics team. Before I went to Salem Academy I was enrolled in a co-ed public school where the majority of boys steamrolled girls in STEM activities. That problem is virtually nonexistent with an all girls team because it feels like we are all on the same wavelength. We are able to connect more because when you have an all girls robotics team it is much easier to understand how we all think and act. Not to mention most of my team being friends before we joined robotics. Other than the community an all girls robotics team allows us to be imperfect. When I was at my co-ed school I always felt I had to be perfect in order to keep my STEM “street cred”. I knew that there was not a high tolerance for imperfect girls in STEM because as soon as you would slip up or make a mistake, it gave certain people the chance to enforce harmful stereotypes that women don’t belong in the STEM fields. Since these harmful stereotypes are more often than not perpetuated by boys, an all girls environment provides a safe place to make mistakes, learn, and grow without fear of being judged or ridiculed.
I think the main thing to take away from this is that an all female school and/or team is a great opportunity for young women to discover what they are interested in without judgement. I highly recommend that all girls consider the possibility of being a part of an all girls school/ robotics team.

This blog was written by Emma from FTC team 7444. If you are interested in blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule!
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Hidden gems in first

3/19/2021

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Hi my name is Anna and I am a 16 year old on the co-ed FRC team 4967 That ONE Team-Our Next Engineers. I am a student co-captain on my student leadership team and work mainly with our business and media team. I joined FIRST in the fall of 2018 as a freshman in high school. My first meeting was an interesting one, as my brother was the one who forced me to come since he was already on the team. I thought FIRST was just about the robot, and because I am not a very fabrication-oriented person, the team didn’t interest me at first. But then I found out about the business team and I was hooked.
    As a person more interested in art than building, I would not have done well on a team just oriented towards fabrication. So when I first heard the phrase “FIRST is more than just robots”, it really resonated with me. A FIRST team, no matter what the level, teaches you so many skills about leadership, presenting in front of others, how to market your team, how to connect with and learn from your teammates, and most importantly how to have fun. FIRST has changed my life for the better: I have become more confident in myself, I have learned how to lead and how to follow, and I have learned so many skills that will be essential to my future.
    Every year of my time on the team, I have participated in the Chairman’s award submission. I, along with a few other students, worked together to write the essay and executive questions, create a presentation, and present in front of a panel of judges at competitions. Many people don’t see the value of being part of the Chairman’s submission, but I strongly disagree. Each year I learn more and more about my team, about FIRST, and about what it means to be in FIRST, along with so many writing and presentation skills that I will need for my future. Instead of viewing it as just another task, I started to view it as a way to share my story with others in FIRST, to share how it has inspired me, to become who I am today.
When I first joined my team, I was unsure of the purpose of it all. From my outside perspective I only saw it as a competition between teams, maybe a way to have fun, but boy was I wrong. FIRST has completely changed the opportunities that I have for my future. Along with the skills that I have learned, it has led me to my chosen career path of graphic design. FIRST gives me the opportunity to connect with many business professionals, and FIRST team experience can open many doors to colleges and careers.
As a Junior in high school, I only have one season left after 2021 as a student, after which I will officially be a FIRST alum. It can be scary to think about the future sometimes, where to go to college, what career to go into, and many other things. I may not have all of my plans figured out, but the one thing I do know is that I plan on becoming a mentor on a FIRST team, wherever I end up. The knowledge and experiences that we have are unique to us, so there is no better person to pass this on to the next generation than us. We have been through the things that the younger students are going through, so we can be there to help them through it, inspire them to take charge, and be a leader.
As women in FIRST, we can be there to inspire the next generation of women to take the paths that we did, to improve our future, to become leaders, to prove to the world that we can do it all. I am one of three women students on my team. All three of us are in leadership positions, and all of us pursuing different aspects of the team. We can be role models for the next generation, to pursue what we are passionate about, no matter the stereotypes. So as a final message, stand up for who you are, become a leader, and inspire the next generation to do the same. The world always needs more women who are willing to stand up and show the world who we are.


This blog was written by FRC Team 4967 That ONE Team. If you are interested in blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule!
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