Starting an FLL team can be intimidating, especially as a student. My name is Anna Nesbitt. I’m a member of Girls of Steel FRC 3504, and currently serve as the Outreach Lead, as well as a programmer, on the team. I was a part of my elementary school’s FLL team in middle school, and found my love for robotics there. Since eighth grade, I’ve started two FLL Jr. teams and one FLL team, as well as mentored at an FLL Skills Camp hosted by Girls of Steel. Starting these teams has been an incredibly rewarding experience, and I’m here to tell you how you can do it yourself!

First things first, you have to get your ideas down. Ask yourself: What age group will I be mentoring? Will this team be co-ed or all girls? How many students will be on this team? Where will I run this team? Are there already FIRST programs in place where I want to start this team? For me, I started an all-girls FLL Jr. team at an elementary school, and used the same group of girls for the FLL team that I founded a year later. This not only makes it easier on you, but also lays down the foundation for a comprehensive pipeline of STEM programs if you provide opportunities for kids every year along the way.

Next, you need to identify your point person. For me, this was an after school programs coordinator, but it can also be a STEM teacher or a teacher of the grade that you are looking to mentor. Remember, they should be someone you know and trust- FLL won’t send you emails about the team, so it’ll be up to them to forward all communications to you. Once you have identified who you would like this person to be, set up a meeting with them. Remember, you are the expert on FIRST- for all you know, your point person may not have ever heard of FIRST before. Talk from your heart, and really focus on the impact that FIRST has had on you and the people you know. Another thing to stress to them is why you are the most qualified person to run this team. This part was hard for me; I was a 14 year old freshman- why would anyone want to spend a decent amount of money on something that would be completely run by a person so young? I focused on expressing my experience and connection to the girls. As a young woman in STEM, I could provide them with insight on what they are to expect along the way as they move up in STEM, as well as be there for them in social situations where they may not want to go to an older teacher.

Another hurdle to expect is the big question of exclusion. This comes up when you’re trying to start an all girls team. “Doesn’t this set boys back in STEM?” “This is a co-ed school with co-ed programs, and we don’t want to exclude anyone.” An all-girls team builds a foundation of support and confidence within the participating girls, and gives the girls a place where they can take risks without being afraid of feeling “weird” just for being there. I cannot express enough how beneficial an all-girls team is on young girls. In the first co-ed FLL Jr. team I started, none of the girls continued with robotics. In the first all-girls FLL Jr. team I started, 5 out of the 6 girls continued with robotics. You can also talk about any challenges you’ve faced as a girl in STEM that would have been alleviated with the support of an all-girls team.

Once you’ve established the idea of your new FLL team, it’s time to register it! As a minor, you cannot register a new team, so help your point person create a FIRST account (firstinspires.org) and register a new team by following the steps on FIRST’s website. You need to identify a second adult in this step as someone who may help out with the team and receive FIRST communication. For this step, I chose my mom. While neither my mom or the after school coordinator helped me out with running my team during normal meetings, I trusted both to send me emails, register for competitions, and pay for the team. Later, you can add yourself as a mentor to the team- these positions don’t mean much in the long run, so don’t stress that you aren’t named an official “coach”.

Something to remember is that FLL costs a lot of money the first year, so it might be something you have to work to raise money for. Expect to spend around $800 for the initial robot kit, game board, and challenge pieces, and another couple hundred dollars for competition registration. This cost will go down the following years because you can reuse the robot, but you should check if the school has EV3 robots first to make sure you aren’t wasting money. Other costs to expect throughout the season are tri-boards, research project materials, t-shirts, core values activities, and potentially field trips. This isn’t cheap, but it’s worth it. Stress that if the school is willing to put money into athletics, they should put money into FLL- as FIRST says, it’s the sport where everyone can go pro, and it’s great to get kids started at a young age (especially for girls!)

Next, work with your point person to get the word out about the team. For me, a person running an FLL team by myself, I think 6 is the ideal size, but you choose! The smaller the team, the more impact you’ll have on each student because of the increased amount of individualized attention you’re able to give, so don’t feel pressured to make it the biggest team out there! Once you have a group of students identified, make sure you maintain regular email contact with parents to keep them updated on what the kids are doing and what’s coming up. I sent my parents one folder of pictures per month from the meetings, competitions, scrimmages, etc., and they all seemed to love it!

Now that you’ve got the team all set up and students signed up to join, it’s your job to run the team. Look at FLL resources and set up a rough plan before the season starts. Remember, not every meeting will go as planned, so don’t have everything planned down to the minute. Some resources that I used when planning include ev3lessons.com, flltutorials.com, tinyurl.com/gosfll, and FIRST’s FLL resources. Keep the kids on track, and make sure you balance the amount of time the kids are spending on the research project and the robot so the project doesn't end up being pushed to the final meetings. Remember to register for scrimmages and competitions on your region’s FLL website during the season as well- work with your point person to make this happen!

Finally, remember that your work shouldn’t stop when the FLL season ends. The FLL season is short- if you don’t engage your students (especially your girls) for the rest of the year, you aren’t going to get the retention results you’re looking for. After the FLL season ended, I created a one day per week winter and spring program where I’ll expand on what we did in FLL, such as building robots to act like Roomba vacuums or BattleBots! For me, running this team is a much needed break from build season and school, and I have a ton of fun with the girls I mentor. You should too!

Many other FRC and FTC teams have started FLL teams of their own, especially those that are student led. Girls of Steel 3504 started FLL in 2013, and now has 4 teams held at the National Robotic Engineering Center in Pittsburgh, PA. Feel free to contact girlsofsteelrobotics@gmail.com if you have any questions about our teams!

I can’t wait to see the new FLL teams you’ll create! Here’s the link to a presentation I gave about this topic at the Steel City Robotics Alliance Workshops in Pittsburgh, PA: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1u3JinYq7xADJxOKR1UPDNVBHFSjE2uLebsnv8bjUTW0/edit?usp=sharing. Feel free to share this with your teams and FIRST friends!​

Girls of Steel, FRC Team #3504 of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has now held three events with local Girl Scout Troops. Since Girls of Steel and the Girl Scout organization have similar missions in boosting the confidence of youth girls and giving them new experiences and exposure to new ideas, it seemed like a great connection to make. After doing a tour of our workspace with a group of Girl Scouts last winter, and since the Girl Scouts organization recently launched new STEM badges which included three for both Daisies and Brownies, we decided to give local scouts the opportunity to earn these badges with our help. 

On May 6th, about 35 Daisies from 5 different troops came to Carnegie Mellon University to earn the “What Robots Do” badge. On December 16th we held another similar event where twelve Daisies earned the “What Robots Do” badge, and four Brownies earned the “Showcasing Robots” badge.

With the Daisies, we discussed the purpose of robots and the work of engineers. To define the job of an engineer, someone who solves problems with inventions,  we explored these questions with the scouts: .     
WHAT is the problem that needs to be solved?
WHO HAS the problem that needs to be solved?
WHY is this problem important to solve?
With these questions in mind, the Daisies broke off into small groups to brainstorm scenarios that would be the job of an engineer to solve. Some of their ideas included building homes for the homeless, having a personal maid, and packing their lunches for school.

As we delved into an explanation of algorithms, the Daisies completed two activities. To show the importance of good instruction we used a sketch of a robot face with simple shapes and without showing the scouts our sample, we gave them inadequate instructions to draw the same picture. We simple told them what shapes to draw, not how to place them or what size the shapes should be. In the end many girls had random squares and circles of different sizes strewn about their paper. They were surprised to see that our picture was cohesive and appeared to be a face. This activity highlighted the fact that an algorithm must be perfectly specific in order for the robot to successfully complete the task, since a machine is only as smart as the instructions that it is given. Then, in another activity, they “planted” daisies (to coordinate with the Girl Scout brand) in pots in a systematic fashion to simulate how an algorithm works. In small groups, a few girls would work together to use their given tools and ingredients (shovels, gardening gloves, pots, “sun”, “water”, “dirt” and plastic daisies) to pot a daisy, but only with instruction of precisely how to do so from their teammates. 

We then did a quick foundational lesson on mechanical and programming vocabulary and the use of robots in the real world, before we had the Daisies design their own robots that would solve the issue that they had defined at the beginning of the workshop. They brainstormed with their groups and drew colorful robots with creative mechanisms that would build beautiful homes for people that do not have one, and save them from their chores at home. They named their robots, and presented their ideas to the group. 

With the remaining time, we brought the scouts to our workspace so we could introduce them to our robot, MO. 

With the Brownies earning the “Showcasing Robots” badge, we also discussed the purpose of robots, as we highlighted the biomimicry industry. We identified the link between nature and many of today’s inventions and learned about how RoboBees can soon become an important part of our world. Then, we explained our team’s structure and mission as well as describing each level of FIRST (to hopefully entice them to join one!). Then the Brownies collaborated to complete our Chassis Project which is a pre-fabricated plate and standoff chassis that can be built and ready to drive in a little over an hour. The girls successfully completed the chassis, each drove it around the room, and were able to explain their process and identify the different parts and tools that they used while building.

To commemorate each event, we gave the girls “Girls of Steel” patches for the back of their vests! These events were very successful, and we look forward to doing another one and seeing some of the scouts on a FIRST team one day! 

Here are some tips for running a Girl Scouts Robotics Badge Workshop! Feel free to email us at girlsofsteelrobotics@gmail.com if you have any questions!

To earn “What Robots Do” for Daisies

• Use the link above to find the official badge requirements from the Girl Scouts organization
• For the “planting a daisy” algorithm activity you will need
  • Plastic pots
  • Fake daisy flowers
  • Yellow sun shaped sticky notes
  • Blue and brown shredded paper
• You will also need crayons and paper for the girls to use when designing their own robots
• Show them your robots!! The scouts love to see what you do rather than just hear about it.

To earn “Showcasing Robots” for Brownies

• Use the link above to find the official badge requirements from the Girl Scouts organization
• Discuss the different types of projects that engineers do, including biomimicry
• If your team does not have access to a project like our Chassis Kit, you can have the scouts make a prototype of a robot out of cardboard, paper and string

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Back in 2015, President Barack Obama announced that science “is more than a school subject, or the periodic table, or the properties of waves. It is an approach to the world, a critical way to understand and explore and engage with the world, and then have the capacity to change that world..." It was during this time that the U.S Department of Education developed a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education initiative to teach these skills to America’s children.

Why STEM?

Technology isn’t going anywhere. STEM jobs are on the rise in America and throughout the world. Observatory on Borderless Higher Education has called the current job market  a “global race for STEM skills.”  Indeed, STEM fields will continue to be some of the most in-demand, highest-paying jobs in the world. Did I mention they’re also some of the happiest and most fulfilling jobs?

STEM for Girls

STEM skills are not just for boys. There is a huge need for more women throughout the STEM industry. Sadly, few girls major in computer science or related fields and there is a huge gender gap in the tech field, including Silicon Valley. By starting at home and in the classroom, and by inspiring a love of STEM subjects in our girls while they are still young, we can hopefully encourage more diversity and better representation in this important field.

STEM Resources

No child is too young (or too old) to start learning about science, technology, engineering, or mathematics. Here are some of our favorite resources for children and teenagers.
 
Preschool

Goldiblox creates wonderful, educational toys for girls ages 4 years and older. Meanwhile, Tynker can be a fun way to teach computer coding to young children. Need more ideas for younger kids? Here’s a great roundup of STEM activities for preschoolers.
 
Elementary School

Elementary aged children can have fun learning computer coding and video game development, especially when combined with their favorite video game: Minecraft. This curriculum, which uses Minecraft to teach kids Java and JavaScript for video game development, is geared toward children ages 7 to 12 years.

Middle School

While the Minecraft curriculum mentioned above is still age-appropriate for middle schoolers, your child might also be longing for something different. Why not “graduate” to more advanced (and lifelike) video game development?

Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 4 is a powerful and, not to mention, free video game creation engine. After ensuring that your computer meets the minimum requirements to run the software, you might explain to your child that Unreal Engine 4 is used by professional video game developers to create some of the most popular video games on the planet. It has also been used to create virtual reality worlds, special effects animations, and has even been used by the space industry. It’s intuitive to use and with plenty of online tutorials and free (and paid) resources available for download, just imagine what your child can create!
 
High School

High schoolers can benefit from lesson plans that are more advanced and include more “real world” projects. While some of the lessons mentioned above, including Unreal Engine, would work well for high schoolers as well, they might also benefit from some of the lessons mentioned here. You could use this as an opportunity to teach your teen about financial literacy and prepare him or her for a possible future career in real estate, banking, accounting, or even design.

Keep in mind that the resources listed above are not an exhaustive list. By doing a quick Google search, you can find many more resources, curriculum outlines, lesson plans, and activities. You might even search for local STEM clubs for children in your area. If you’re interested in paying for STEM lessons, iD Tech offers a summer camp program for children in preschool through high school. Need something online? Skillcrush and Treehouse are two paid options with beginners’ coding classes that could easily work for high schoolers. 

This blog was written by Julie Morris. If you are interested in blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule.

During a recent drive to work, I listened to an NPR broadcast of an interview with Michelle Obama.  The interviewer asked her “Do you have any regrets?” I was a bit surprised at the former first lady’s response: “yes”.  When she continued (and I’m paraphrasing here) “I regret that I didn’t find my voice when I was younger. That I spent time in awe of the people who were sitting at the table, thinking that they knew so much more than me.  But when I arrived at the big table, I found that the others really didn’t know anything more than I did. So, I regret that I didn’t put my ideas out there when I was younger.”
I think that what Michelle Obama was saying was that she regrets not being more of a leader earlier in her life.  As John Maxwell (1) defines it: “Leadership is Influence. Nothing more, and nothing less.” So how do you come to have influence?  I think there are 3 simple guidelines for this.

• Know your stuff.  You don’t have to be the expert or have the most technical knowledge, but you can’t influence others (i.e. get your ideas adopted), especially in a technical field, if you aren’t competent.  Find people who know more than you, and use their knowledge to compliment what you are learning through your studies and your experiences. Form relationships with these people, so you can rely on their guidance throughout your career. Don’t be afraid to ask questions (it does NOT make you look stupid!), and recognize that “knowing your stuff” is a lifelong endeavor.  When you are competent, you can also be confident, which is a requirement for a good influencer, and thus a good leader.
• Know yourself.  By this I mean be honest with yourself about your strengths and weaknesses.  Contrary to what you might think, you should focus a larger part of your time and effort on building upon your strengths, not on improving your weaknesses.  When you know and recognize your limits, you can strive to build teams that include people who have strength in your weak areas, freeing you up to focus on what you do best.  Self-reflection is a fantastic way to increase your knowledge of yourself, and again you should tap on others for feedback to help you gain insight into what you do well and what you don’t.  And take that feedback as a gift! Even though it might be painful to hear from someone you respect that you have gaps in your skillset, it is invaluable information for you to use to improve your effectiveness. This feedback should be used to self-correct: to deliberately modify the way you show up to others.   I also call this being coachable. If you always respond to feedback with an excuse or explanation of why you are right or why it is someone else’s fault, people will stop giving you the very feedback that could help you continue to grow.
• Know your team.  Following up the idea of knowing yourself and your strengths and weaknesses, you need to invest in knowing the same of your teammates.  The best teams are combinations of people with different strengths -- this allows the team to achieve more than what the individuals could by working separately. This is huge!  When you are working against technical and time deadlines (does that sound familiar??), multiplying your effectiveness by having team members with complimentary skillsets is invaluable!  Knowing others takes empathy (that is understanding and sharing the emotions of others). By understanding what motivates others, you can help them better know themselves and work to build upon their strengths.   This is so important as a leader, because people want to align themselves with someone who not only gets results, but who also makes them perform better, too.

Recognize that as a female in a technical field you will more than likely find yourself in the minority quite often.  That can be a GOOD THING. Being different makes you stand out, and demonstrating and growing your leadership skills gets you selected for increased responsibility.  I think that you can recognize that you have tremendous opportunities to build on these ideas as a female participant in the FIRST program. So, go out there and find the work that motivates you, that helps you “relish achievement for its own sake (2)”.  And develop your leadership skills so that your voice can be heard early on – so you don’t look back with regret that you didn’t have the confidence to influence the conversation sooner. I can’t wait to follow you FIRST Ladies into a very bright future.

References

1. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, by John C. Maxwell, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1998
2. “What makes a Leader” by Daniel Goleman, published by the Harvard Business Review, 1998

This blog was written by Joyce Witowski, mentor of FRC team 2468. If you are interested in blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule. ​​​​​

Joyce Witowski has over 30 years of experience as an engineer and leader in the area of semiconductor manufacturing technology.  She has held a variety of technical and leadership positions at Intel, General Electric, KLA-Tencor and NXP, spanning process engineering and operations, applications engineering, sales, procurement and quality.  She is currently the Director of front-end quality at NXP Semiconductor in Austin, Texas.  Joyce holds a BA in Chemistry from Washington and Jefferson College and an MS in Chemical Engineering from Clarkson University.  She has been a mentor for FRC team 2468 for the past 9 years, focusing mostly on project management and outreach.

As a middle school student in a program dedicated to the Humanities and Communications and comprised of around 90% girls, I believed my obligatory future lay in the liberal arts. Despite my gradually growing passions for mathematics and the sciences, I suppressed my interests in school projects to walk a path similar to that of other girls who loved film and media. By the end of my first quarter in middle school, I had essentially deluded myself in the belief that I needed to precisely mirror others in my grade.
    Later that year my dad volunteered to be a judge at the FIRST Tech Challenge Maryland Championship that was being held at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, inviting my brother and me along to watch the competition. Touring the presentation area, I was astounded to discover such complex robots and became fascinated with the obscure, undeveloped idea of engineering I had generated at the time. When qualifying matches began in the field area, however, I was disheartened to discover solely or mostly male drive teams. Perceiving the lack of girls controlling and mobilizing the robot at this competition, though not extinguishing my newly kindled interest in FIRST, was a discouraging experience that instituted tighter chains around my cage of doubt. Yet, as I attended more and more qualifiers and state championships over the years, I noted increased female representation and consequently grew a small kernel of hope that I, too, could become an integral member of a FTC team.
    This dream, initially overshadowed by disbelief and apprehension, came into fruition when I applied to a local FTC team through my high school in my sophomore year. My acceptance into Team 5421, RM’d and Dangerous, which I had seen competing even during my middle school years, has opened new doors and allowed me to integrate myself in STEM more closely than ever before. The other girls in my team have additionally given me priceless encouragement, and I am extremely fortunate to have been able to overcome the intimidating, male-only notion of STEM engendered in me early on.
    I hope that girls who may be facing such challenges in the present can realize that their futures are not determined by others. Similarly, I aspire that girls will be able to discover a network and community of unique individuals to support them throughout their STEM journey. My greatest piece of advice as someone whose hesitation and uncertainty transformed into passion and confidence is thus to not be afraid to deviate from the norm and instead embrace a new direction. After all, individuality in STEM can only foster, not hinder, both personal and collective growth.

This blog was written by Katie Kolodner of FTC team 5421 RM'd and Dangerous. If you are interested in blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule. ​​​​​