Regional Impact Award Winners
As a culmination of our community involvement efforts to fulfill our mission of cultivating a culture of STEM in Worthington, Ohio by engaging, inspiring, and impacting our community, we were honored with the Regional FIRST Impact Award at the Buckeye Regional in 2023. This represents the tireless effort of our team to change the tide of STEM through countless outreach events, community service initiatives, and hours spent advocating for the future of STEM education within our community.
We Engage
The WorBots engage community members through involvement in local events. At Worthington Market Day, the largest single-day event in Worthington, we connect members of the community with STEM education through interactive activities and a demonstration. At community robot reveals and shop tours for community members, we engage people of all ages with STEM learning opportunities through FIRST. At Worthington Science Day, we drive robots and represent all levels of the Worthington FIRST Pathway, engaging community members with STEM opportunities available locally and providing information about how anyone can get involved. Within our schools, we engage students at pep rallies, football games, curriculum nights, involvement fairs, and activities days—connecting STEM-interested students with FIRST robotics.
We Inspire
The WorBots inspire youth throughout our community by connecting them with hands-on STEM learning opportunities. In partnership with Girl Scouts troops, we run interactive workshops teaching fundemental concepts such as the engineering and design process to Girl Scouts of all ages, helping them to earn their robotics badges and connecting them with STEM. We also participate in events in partnership with our local libraries, allowing us to connect youth with early programming and the building of robots. At programs such as Bluffsview Elementary Care After School, we demonstrate our robot and excite young students to get involved with robotics. At the Olentangy Caverns Geology Camp, we demonstrate robotics and teach kids about the relevance of robotics in science fields such as geology. At elementary and middle school workshops, we introduce youth to STEM as they drive robots, work together to design a robot, and learn about electrical and pneumatic subsystems, connecting them with educational opportunities and exciting them about their abilities in STEM.
We Impact
The WorBots impact youth throughout our community through the Worthington FIRST Feeder Pathway. By mentoring students and serving as role models for youth in our community, we are making a lasting impact on students throughout Worthington. We participate in community giveback events such as Turn For Troops and Habitat for Humanity, using our large team size to make positive change. We also run resource drives for the Worthington Resource Pantry and LEGO Drives for the Ronald McDonald House of Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Within the FIRST community, we impact teams on a local and international level. In addition to working consistently with teams through email, Zoom, and in our workshop, we also support teams at competitions by distributing safety kits to every team we compete with. We also provide resources to STEM initiatives internationally to help them expand FIRST within their communities. Through our efforts to engage and inspire our community, we generated an impact on nearly 30,000 in the 2023 season through 42 outreach events.
