On June 18th, Team 1816 will be making our fourth annual trip to Washington DC for the National Advocacy Conference. This event, hosted by Team 27 RUSH, attracts FIRST robotics teams from across the U.S. to this 3-day conference. There, students are given the opportunity to talk to their Senators and Representatives about the importance of FIRST Robotics, STEM education (ESEA and Title IV-Part B funding in particular) and the expansion of science, technology, engineering and math programs overall. We also will take the opportunity to ask our delegation to support the Christa McAuliffe Commemorative Coin Act which would authorize the US Treasury to mint a new $1 coin, with proceeds from proof and uncirculated coins helping to benefit FIRST programs.
The coin would be issued in recognition of the 30th anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger tragedy and honor Ms McAuliffe, who died in the disaster. Since our first NAC conference in 2013, The Green Machine has met with our Minnesota senators and representatives over 25 times. The Green Machine was the first Minnesota team to focus on advocacy, and we’re proud to be leading the way for other teams to follow. This year, FRC Teams 2052-KnightKrawler, 2512-Daredevils, and FTC Team 9025-The Iron Maidens will be joining us at the NAC. We look forward to another amazing conference!