okay it’s Tiff from team 180, S.P.A.M.-- our team well–three girls (mary, brittney and I) want to start sending the message of RCU out into our community-- I would like to know how many girls in Florida want to do this-- the three of us are going to sit down and figure out ways we can do this–and if there is anyone how wants the ideas we come up with we’ll be happy to share-- we are going to try to talk to girls in middle school and elementary-- but i would really like to get more girls involved in our own team and in FIRST in general-- but together in the state of Florida we all can come together and do activities-- just need to come together and talk-- more girls need to know about FIRST and the RCU
Please give us any advice to get the RCU going in Florida. We really want this to be a big thing, like FIRST. The RCU’s mission is to get girls involved with FIRST, robotics, science, and engineering. We want the number of girls involved with robotics to only keep growing. Team S.P.A.M. has only 12 girls on our team of over 30 students. We feel getting girls involved in FIRST at an early age, like LEGO LEAGUE, would help the number of girls involved to keep growing. Please give us any suggestions to help get the RCU growing in Florida, throughout the country, and better yet…the world!
Please give us all the advice we can get. I’ve already planned out a logo and a basic background for the program, but we want all FIRST Florida girls to help the RCU as well as the Robotic Chickettes Union (For Elementary and Middle School girls) growing in the state. Thank you so much.~
i haven’t seen the logo but i will but
yeah if any gals want to help out really anybody at all that would be great-- and i really think we have to figure out to get funds with the RCU so the union as a whole can do things
any ?s comments really just im me or email me-- i’m welcome to anything
I havent’ seen the logo either, and I don’t live in Florida, but I think it is an absolutely fabulous idea. I’ll start an Indiana chapter if there isn’t already one. Something that might help if you try is getting an interested group of girls to come into a robotics meeting and sort of shadow you for a day. Not like, during build season or anything, but if you’re learning an easier an interactive technique (depends on age group) they can get in on it and really really enjoy it. Good luck! - Genia (461, W. Lafayette IN)
Thank you for the wish of luck for the Robot Chicks Union (RCU)! This summer, some of the girls from SPAM and I hope to get together and work out all of the plans, and hopefully get the RCU going by the time school starts in the fall. Already, teams in Manchester have organiezed “RCU” events, like field trips to Autodesk and DEKA, as well as a program called “FIRST Class Girls,” where females involved in FIRST Robotics wrote letters to girls involved in lego league. They have also been doing “Girls Connect” workshops for 10-14 year olds, which is something that we would like to start in Florida, and help intrest girls in robotics.
To get younger girls involved in robotics, and recuit future girls to join team S.P.A.M., we had an idea to start a “Robot Chickettes Union,” for lego league age girls. Some of our possible plans were to hold activities for girls, like with the lego mindstorms, to spark an intrest of robotics, and to have local female engineers and scientist, speak to the girls about how girls too can become engineers, and that math, science, and engineering can be fun. Hopefully, we can suceed with the RCU.
also, even though I don’t think it has been updated for a while, it still gives information on the RCU, and the RCU’s website is: http://www.geocities.com/robotchicksunion/
Thank you again for showing interest, and if all goes well, we hope for the RCU to become a widely known organization in the FIRST community.
I don’t think you should limit yourself to tech stuff though. I mean I think you’re super ambitious, and that is sooo fantastic. I love ambitious people. But keep in mind that younger girls aren’t gonna be that interested in career paths yet. They may enjoy an activity, but the most important thing you can do for them is be a friend and role model. Make an activity, like a social, and host a bunch of middle school girls from your area who sign up for like robotics night. You could attend a meeting together and they could watch you build stuff, then you could spend the night doing social stuff too so that they understand that friendships, and sportsmanship, and interpersonal connections are also a bit part of FIRST. Also, it’ll give girls who aren’t interested in the engineering aspect a chance to look at FIRST as a personal development angle not a “you gotta be an engineer.” Sorry for the long post! If I ever come visit Florida I’d love to do stuff with you guys since there are some people on 179 I miss.
I know what you mean. I guess we can give them a little tech-like activities, and then show them how to play ddr and take them bowling. Thats what spam girls do. Friendships will be formed. Thank you so much for the advice, because your right, not many little girls already have hopes and dreams to become an engineer. We can help make thoes dreams, maybe.
