When we looked at the calendar with the weeks stretching between our FIRST competition in Duluth at the end of February to our second regional competition at Williams Arena April 3 – 4, we thought about how best to use this time. In Edina, March is the season of elementary school carnivals – and that is where you’ll find The Green Machine.
At Highlands Elementary School, we volunteered to create and run a game stand called “Tower Challenge,” where kids had two-and-a-half minutes to build the tallest tower they could out of insulation blocks and toothpicks. The game proved to be a big hit with the kids, even those who weren’t sure they’d like to build or “engineer” a tower that wouldn’t fall over. It helped, of course, that we had fun prizes, including 1816 bling, to give away! While the kids were busy figuring out their towers, Team members also took the opportunity to talk to parents and adults about the upcoming $125 million bond referendum. This referendum will change classrooms and “learning spaces” throughout Edina schools. For two additional elementary school carnivals, Creek Valley and Concord, we are hosting both a robot demo and a game stand.ut our schools in Edina, and also include dedicated facilities for engineering and STEM!
The Green Machine also rolled into the Star Studio at Minneapolis Children’s Hospital for their in-house television program, Kids Clubhouse. We met “the Dude,” who welcomed us by making us partially invisible on-screen (via a green screen and special effects!). It was a new way to bring FIRST Robotics to kids who may not get a chance to see it otherwise.
Plus, we’re bringing robots to the showing of “Slingshot,” hosted by our sibling FTC teams at South View Middle School. We are very excited to be able to be so active in our community in the coming weeks, and would like to thank our Sponsors, Friends, and Fans for making this possible!