BattleCry @ WPI

As the off-season event of the summer, BattleCry @ WPI is always very fun. We were excited to try new drive teams. These “rookies” got to experience the feel of the field, and practice for potential driving in the upcoming 2018 season. Even though we had our hands full, we still had fun in the Human Player Challenge, and some of our students got to take a tour of the WPI campus. In the end, we earned ourselves a spot in the semi-finals, after qualifying in 14th place. The BattleCry experience was an exhilarating one for the team.

Mayhem in Merrimack

During our second off-season competition at Merrimack High School, our team continued the trend of giving students opportunities on the drive team. In this competition, a double elimination bracket was introduced, and we were eventually eliminated late in the competition. We showed our team spirit, had fun, and we sent off our senior members, as it was their last competition as students on the team.

Beantown Blitz

During our third off-season competition in Revere, Massachusetts, we played well once again. We were eliminated in the quarter-finals. We continued our trend of letting students who were not a part of this season's drive team participate in many ways.  We showed spirit and had fun, as is part of every event. It was a perfect end to our summer off-season competitions.

Southside Middle School Color Run

A select amount of students volunteered for the Southside Middle School Color Run fundraising event. Students helped guide runners through the neighborhood route, and congratulated them at the finish line with colored corn starch. In the end, the event was successful and we had fun helping raise money for the Color Run.

FIRST City Year Demo

This June we were invited to demo to a groups of FIRST LEGO League students from City Year held at FIRST Place in Manchester on June 1st. We had a lot of fun answering questions from 3rd, 4th and 5th graders, showing them how our robot works and they also had fun catching the fuel balls shot by Two-Face (our 2017 competition robot). We also invited students to get their hands on the controls and drive the robot.

Bakersville Elementary School STEM Camp

We were invited to Bakersville Elementary School to engage 3rd and 4th graders in the STEM fields using interesting and fun activities.

Some of the activities included, Marshmallow shooting - this activity was a demonstration on the power of elastic forces; Spaghetti & Marshmallow tower - this was used to demonstrate the power of geometry by building complicated towers and understanding which shapes worked and why; Creating slime - the purpose of this activity was to learn to follow instructions by creating slime.  

We also capitalized on this opportunity to show these young minds our robot and what we do in the STEM field. All the kids loved the activities and our Bot demo.

Girls Inc. Demo

A group of students held a demo at Girls Inc., a camp for young girls of varying ages. They were all highly interested in our robot, Two-Face, and a few even had the opportunity of driving it. We opened up the robot and faces lit up with excitement as we discussed the inner workings of our robot. The girls asked many questions and were very intrigued about electronics and robot software. We are pleased to have made an impression and inspired these kids into the STEM field.

FIRST Festival of Champions Team Social & Festival

On the day preceding the Festival of Champions, the Crusaders partnered with 6763 FUSION, 501 Power Knights, and 131 C.H.A.O.S. to host a team social event in the Veteran’s Memorial Park. We welcomed teams from across the globe, socializing and playing games, while sharing our perspectives on FIRST and the reach out to new friends on the opposite side of the world.

At the Festival of Champions, many members of 238 attended to support the teams participating in the competition. A few of our students also volunteered as Student Ambassadors to speak with Invited Guests about their FIRST experience and the competition. It was an exciting day.

LEGO Camp at the Derryfield School

The team had the opportunity to demo the robot for a group of campers at a LEGO robotics camp at Derryfield School. The kids loved the robot and what the team had to offer to them. Many questions were asked regarding the robot and its inner working. They were especially excited when they were gifted with a free 238 wiffle ball shot by Two-Face. Overall the demo was a success.