SO BOTZ, FRC Team #6911 - Similar companies

Since our founding in September 2017, SO BOTZ has sought to create an inclusive, student-driven team culture that emphasizes ... collaboration and values the diverse skills and contributions of our members. Over the past three seasons, our membership has grown 305% from 20 members our first year to our current 61-member roster. To develop member talent, SO BOTZ runs subteam-specific training sessions and provides every member with hands-on experience and growth opportunities. Members consistently report high rates of satisfaction with their SO BOTZ participation and reference our welcoming, inclusive team culture. Industry professionals in engineering, software engineering, communications, finance and marketing continue to collectively contribute 1,000+ volunteer hours each year. Mentor recruitment has kept pace with our membership growth, resulting in a 5:1 student-to-mentor ratio. This is important because our mentors help team members develop real-world job skills and expose them to STEM careers. Since our inception, SO BOTZ has sought to promote STEM and build a tech talent pipeline in our community through more than a dozen targeted outreach events annually. To inspire early interest in STEM, we conduct informational demos at school district’s K-5 Family Tech Night, School Maker Faire and elementary schools each year. During off-season, we mentor our middle school’s FIRST LEGO League team weekly and our workspace is a featured stop on our high school’s 8th-Into-9th-Grade Orientation tour, which allows us to deliver our recruitment pitch directly to incoming freshmen and their parents. This approach has led to a four-fold increase in the number of FLL alumni on our team (eight members currently). We have received the 2018 Hudson Valley Regional Rookie Inspiration Award, 2018 SBPLI #1 Regional Rookie All-Star Award, 2018 Carson-Tesla Division Rookie All-Star Award, the 2019 SBPLI #1 Regional Winning Alliance Award. read more