Veterans Memorial High School’s engineering program was awarded the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Program Growth Grant for the 2020 robotics competition season. This sponsorship is provided through NASA’s Robotics Alliance Project (RAP), an organization that is dedicated to increasing interest in engineering, technology, science, and mathematics disciplines among youth in the United States. The R.A.P. supports national robotics competitions in which high school students collaborate with engineering and technical professionals to gain hands-on experience in STEM fields.
NASA’s Program Growth Grants are offered to teams in their first two years of participation in the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC). The grants provide funding to cover the registration costs for the team to attend their 1st competition event. This year NASA awarded the Program Growth Grant to approximately 150 FRC teams from across the nation and VMHS is among the awarded. VMHS’s Patriot Engineering program was able to expand their robotics program by creating their first FRC Team #8019 with the aid of this grant.
VMHS’s Patriot Engineering has previous success competing in other competitions, FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) also operated by the F.I.R.S.T. (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) organization. By entering into the FRC competition, Patriot Engineering will now offer their engineering students the opportunity to participate in one of the most challenging competitions worldwide. In FRC, teams of students are challenged to raise funds, design a team brand, hone teamwork skills, and build and program industrial-size robots to play a difficult field game against like-minded competitors. It’s as close to real-world engineering as a student can get.
Before the pandemic caused the cancellation of academic events nationwide, VMHS’s rookie FRC team traveled to Del Rio, TX to compete in their inaugural FRC District Event. This year’s challenge was titled INFINITE RECHARGE. At the Del Rio District Event, Patriot Engineering’s FRC rookie team #8019 performed exceptionally well and earned various awards. The team ended with a 6-6 record which is a common feat for veteran teams. In addition, they were recognized with the Highest Rookie Seed and Rookie All-Star awards.