Team Picnic 8.16.09

Students and their parents, as well as the mentors, were invited to our 2009 team picnic. While parents and mentors chatted about what really happened during those 6 weeks of build season, the students had a grand time throwing a football and a Frisbee. Everyone brought some food and the team enjoyed their time hanging out and eating outside together while anxiously awaiting the next season.

Corn Roast 8.3.09

C.O.R.E. likes to give back and help out the community. During the summer of 2009, we went to the Wisconsin State Fair to help the Lions sell corn. We enjoyed our experience with the Lions while visiting the State Fair.

Brewers Game 7.27.09

During the summer we attended a Brewer game with our sponsor, HK Systems. While tailgating and watching the game, we spent some quality time with our well-respected sponsors. We feel that it is essential to keep a close relationship with our sponsors and the Brewer game was a good way to do so. We had a great time and enjoyed growing our relationship with HK Systems.

Underwriters Laboratory Visit and Six Flags 7.16.09

During the off season, C.O.R.E. still likes to get together for meetings as well as go on team outings. In the summer of 2009, we toured the Underwriters Laboratory facilities. It was a great learning experience for our team and we really enjoyed meeting the employees and seeing what goes on behind the scenes. For the rest of the day we went to Six Flags where we had a blast riding roller coasters, all the while growing an even closer relationship with each other.

Alpine Valley 09

During the summer, our team worked concessions at Alpine Valley in East Troy and raised over $1500 by working at this venue.

HK Presentation 07.06.09

During the summer, we visited our sponsor, HK Systems, to give them an update on our team. We told them of our successes during the previous season. Many of the employees were very interested in our team and enjoyed seeing our robot racing around their cafeteria. Touring HK Systems gave our team members an opportunity to see what professionals do in the real world of robotics and automation.

Independence Day Parade 07.04.09

About 12 of our team members and mentors took the opportunity to promote FIRST in our community’s Fourth of July parade. We displayed our robot, Mizuki, around the parade route and distributed candy to attendees.

Summerfest 07.03.09

During the summer, our team looks for ways to spread the message of FIRST to people in our community. Every year, we go to Summerfest, a Midwest music festival, to participate in exhibition matches hosted by Charger Robotics. We brought our 2009 robot, Mizuki, to compete in the competition. Many people in the community enjoyed watching the robots toss orbit balls around.

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GE Take Your Child to Work Day

C.O.R.E. sent three students to GE on Take Your Child to Work Day to teach the kids of employees about FIRST robotics and how they could join. We gave presentations and talks to all three groups of children. In these presentations, we told the students what FIRST was all about and how they could get involved. We then proceeded to show them our latest main robot, Mizuki and let them operate it. We also set up a race track with several VEX robots and allowed the students to test them out. Finally, we had several LEGO League robots to show the students as well.

Overall, the event was a success. After seeing what they could be doing, many students left the workshop wanting to join a local FIRST team. The three students that went were Nick Zamorski (’09), Connor Zwick (’11), and Aaron May (’12).

Freshman Activities Night 5.27.09

C.O.R.E. operated a stand at Waukesha South’s Incoming Freshman Orientation where we demonstrated the robot for incoming freshman and promoted FIRST. We also talked about what being in robotics was like and gave reasons why the freshman should join. Through this, we recruited many new team members and had many more thinking about robotics in general. We used VEX robots and main season robots. This presentation gave many team members experience talking about the team.

Waukesha Engineering Preparatory Academy (WEPA) Incoming Freshmen Presentation 05.27.09

C.O.R.E. sent two representatives, Nick Zamorski (’09) and Connor Zwick (’11), to talk to the incoming freshman class of the Waukesha Engineering Preparatory Academy about our robotics team. They explained that what they learned in engineering classes could be applied to robotics and vice versa. Then, they expounded upon this symbiotic relationship while showcasing Mizuki, the 2009 robot, and a VEX robot. They spoke about their experience with FIRST and ended the presentation with a Question and Answer period. There were many great questions that indicated high interest in joining FIRST.

Hillcrest-Pleasant Hill Elementary Math Night 4.30.09

C.O.R.E. participated in Hillcrest-Pleasant Hill’s math night by holding an exhibit in their gym where we talked about FIRST robotics and our team. We let students play with Mizuki and Helios (two of our main season robots) and had several VEX and NXT robots available, too. We talked to parents and young students about how they could join FIRST Robotics and told them more about what we do as a team. The students and parents were all very interested and wanted to learn more.

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Performing Arts Fundraiser 4.25.09

C.O.R.E. operated a stand at Rockwell Automation’s Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser for the United Performing Arts Fund where we talked about our team and FIRST Robotics. We brought along our robot (Mizuki ’09) and showed people how it worked. We also had several VEX robots available there for people to drive. We participated with Team 537 and several FIRST LEGO League teams.

Kickoff Safety Workshop 1.2.09

During the previous season, our team was honored to win the Underwriters Laboratories Industrial Safety Award at the International Championship. As a result of our successes, our team was asked to facilitate a safety workshop at our local kickoff at WCTC. We gave other teams some ideas, an overview of our program and how it works for us. We hope that other teams will adopt some of our ideas and will make safety an important part of their team. Our program includes concepts such as PPE, LOTO, and frequent safety tests and training workshops.

Salvation Army Bell Ringing 08

Our team members participated in Salvation Army bell ringing again this year. This is a great way for our team to help out the community. Many of our team members volunteered to ring bells at area grocery stores. We had a great time helping out those that are less fortunate and spreading holiday cheer!

PBS Pledge Drive 12.7.08

During the holiday season we volunteered to answer phones for PBS at their annual Pledge Drive. This offered us an opportunity to publicize our team and also to help PBS procure funding for their organization.

Mukwonago FLL Concessions 11.16.08

We setup a small concessions stand for selling soda and candy. This event allowed us earn volunteer hours and also raise funds for the build season.

Mukwonago FLL Setup 11.15.08

We provided assistance setting up and tearing down the State and Regional Lego tournaments. Some of the tasks students were responsible for included: setting up tables in the pits, organizing and setting up judging rooms, and laying out field elements. This event gave us an opportunity to help support FLL and help promote younger students interests in STEM.

Oconomowoc VEX Tournament 11.15.08

We assisted the Oconomowoc VEX League with running their tournament. We helped Oconomowoc set up their VEX tournament and also provided a couple of volunteers to help their tournament run smoothly. Additionally, several of our high school VEX teams also got another chance to compete.

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Lioness Presentation 11.12.08

We enjoyed spreading the message of FIRST and the New Berlin Lioness Club provided a great opportunity. We explained about our involvement in FRC and our interest in FIRST. The Lioness Club was very interested in our strong involvement in preparing elementary and middle school students for STEM through VEX.

Concessions Marquette FLL 11.8.08

Our team ran the Waukesha VEX tournament at Central Middle School. On the same day, in another location, we were also running concessions at a FIRST LEGO League Tournament at Marquette University which was an excellent way for our team to fundraise for our next season and to assist at a FIRST LEGO League tournament.

Midwest VEX Tournament 10.25.08

In the fall we assisted the Midwest VEX Program with their tournament at WCTC. We provided 15 volunteers to help make the tournament a success.

Marquette University Open House 9.6.08

This year we were invited to demonstrate and exhibit our robot at Marquette University’s open house. We showed students and parents our robot and explained who we are and what we do.