Greetings,
On October 22nd, members of two FRC teams from central Virginia will present in front of the Joint Commission of Technology and Science of the Virginia General Assembly. Alison Palmer of Blue Cheese 1086 and Princess Culpepper of Tee Jay Vikings 2998 will present testimony regarding the success FIRST has in preparing students for careers in STEM fields, the current state of the STEM workforce in Virginia including disparity in workforce diversity and how JCOTS and the Virginia General Assembly can help FIRST in bridging the gaps.
Established in 1997, JCOTS is a permanent legislative commission charged to study all aspects of technology and science and to promote the development of technology and science in the Commonwealth of Virginia through sound public policies. The commission is comprised of 7 delegates and 5 senators.
http://dls.virginia.gov/commission/jcots_about.htm
The asks that Alison and Princess will be presenting to JCOTS are for a grant fund to help teams in schools located in disadvantaged or underrepresented areas and incentives for teachers to start and coach FIRST teams in their schools.
Blue Cheese would like for you to attend, either as a coach, teacher, parent, student, any interested party your support will be much appreciated. If you do attend or even if you are unable to and one of your Legislators sits on the Commission, afterwards, please follow up with them advocating for support for FIRST and funding to help make the program accessible for all students.
You can find the committee members here:
http://studies.virginiageneralassembly.gov/studies/179
You can find the name of your legislators here:
http://whosmy.virginiageneralassembly.gov/
Meeting: 10:00 AM
Oct 22nd 10am House Room B
General Assembly Building
201 North 9th Street
Richmond, VA 23219