Anacortes FIRST Robotics REBOOT

Since the debut of the AHS Cyborg Ferrets (aka Team 3238) in 2010, the Anacortes School District has had an active community of students and parents having fun while learning about robotics and other STEM interests through the FIRST Robotics programs.  Many incredible volunteer team leaders and mentors have made these programs possible over the years.  However, the past few years have been dark times, and the dark times have taken their toll on the programs.  Most of our teams were heavily impacted by COVID restrictions, and as team participation has fallen, our volunteers have waned.  Now we need to rise back up like the phoenix!
This summer and the upcoming 2022-2023 school year are critical to the survival of our robotics programs.  Adult volunteers are needed at all levels:

  • Help out at this summer’s fun and informative community outreach events (see below)
  • Team coaches for six-student FLL Explore teams and ten-student FLL Challenge teams (two coaches for each team) in the fall
  • Skilled (and unskilled) team mentors and coaches for the high school FTC team in the fall, and
  • Planning/administrative leaders in the Anacortes Robotics Booster Club this summer and in the fall

As has always been the case, these robotics programs rely heavily on parent participation at all levels as well as community volunteers – these are community-driven hands-on programs, not high-fee formal education with a highly-compensated staff.
This summer we have four scheduled interactive opportunities for the community to learn more about our programs, and for our current volunteers and students to learn more about the community.  They are:

  • June 4th and 5th at the Anacortes Waterfront Festival (Cap Sante Marina, our booth is open from 10am – 6pm Saturday/10am – 5pm Sunday)
  • July 4th – Anacortes Independence Day Parade (Commercial Ave, 9am – 12:30pm, parade probably starts at 11 am)
  • August 20 – Anacortes Ready to Learn Fair (Anacortes Middle School from 9am to noon)
  • August 28 – Anacortes Open Streets (Commercial Ave, our booth is open from 11am – 3pm)

If you have ANY past experience with our robotics programs and have some time to help out with planning/hosting these events, please fill out this form  then send e-mail to “Shannon.Jenkins@AnacortesRobotics.org” to let her know.  We especially welcome students of ANY past teams to join us at any of the events, even if they just smile and wave.
If you have any interest in you or a student that you know participating in one of the robotics programs over the upcoming 2022-2023 school year, come on by and visit our volunteers with your questions at one of these scheduled events.  If you are unable to make it to any of the events, or you need more information, please contact ARBC via e-mail at “Info@AnacortesRobotics.org”.