Walton Robotics

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STEM Missions

Information:

The goal of the STEM Missions department is to spread STEM to underrepresented groups and underserved areas around the world. We’ve held 23 STEM camps including a free weeklong camp in Brazil for 40 students without access to STEM education in their public schools. We are currently working with our sponsors to offer more camps in Brazil and other regions of the world. Another major aspect of the STEM Missions department is its product line, Walt’s STEM Toolbox. Walt’s STEM Toolbox includes four major components: Outreach in Box Curie, Outreach in a Box Earhart, the Adventures of Walt Storybook, and Camp in a Can. These products are used by Walton Robotics, other FIRST teams, and our corporate sponsors to introduce STEM concepts to members of both local and international communities.

The STEM Missions department has stemmed off from our Community Outreach department so that our team can make not just an impact on our local community here in Georgia, but an impact on the world. In regions where we cannot travel, Walt’s STEM Toolbox serves as an immense help, because it gives all the information/resources needed to host a STEM camp of your very own. For questions about purchasing a Walt’s STEM Toolbox, please contact us.

One of our team’s major goals is to spread STEM education worldwide, including to underserved areas, and without a strong STEM Missions department, none of this would be possible.

History:

In July of 2015, some of the members of our team took a two-week trip to Brazil. We ran a five day STEM camp, which was sponsored by Novelis Aluminum Company, for 40 underserved Brazilian children in the city of Pindamonhangaba. We also enlisted the help of Brazilian Team 1382 ETEP for translation during the camp. All of the activities planned incorporated a different STEM topic and were fun and engaging for everyone. This was an amazing cultural experience for us. We learned a lot about the similarities and differences between our beliefs/commonalities. From this trip we not only hope to make a lasting impact on the Pinda community, but we are also optimistic that team ETEP will carry on planning and executing more STEM camps in other underserved communities in Brazil.

  • Team mentor Mrs. Kauffman congratulating the campers for all their hard work
  • Team member Joshua Kauffman breaking the ice with his group members

Camp in a Can (CIAC)

Camp in a Can is a product innovated and developed by Team 2974 and sponsored by Novelis Aluminum Company. This product contains an extremely detailed and thorough manual on how to run a STEM camp. The manual contains administrative materials such as different forms, challenging behavior, helpful tips, and things to keep in mind when running a camp. There are also 18 suggested activities which you may have campers complete. The activity write-ups include the science behind the activity, discussion questions, extensions, and much more. There is also a flash drive in the can that includes a color copy of the manual, printable copies of important forms mentioned in the manual, and videos about our team and FIRST. Camp in a Can is a part of our product line which is titles Walt’s STEM Toolbox. Walton Robotics had the great opportunity to present Walt’s STEM Toolbox at one of the 2016 FIRST World Championships seminar sessions. A representative from Novelis also presented for part of the session on how their company has benefited from sponsoring and working with our team. 

Camp in a Can

Impact Numbers

  • 25 million people impacted in the last 5 years
  • International-Outreach in a Box distributed to 13 other countries
    • Mexico
    • Canada
    • Germany
    • UK
    • Italy
    • Switzerland
    • France
    • Malaysia
    • China
    • UAE
    • Korea
    • Vietnam
    • Brazil
  • Our mascot, Walt, has been to all 7 Continents and space 3 times
    • Been on a space shuttle
    • Faxed to research center in Antarctica