EMP Robotics 2021-2022

Park Hill South Robotics, the Electromagnetic Panthers (Team EMP), is part of the FIRST Robotics Challenge (FRC). This is a unique extracurricular activity that gives students hands-on experience in many fields including engineering, programming, electronics, marketing, business, and graphic design. Every year, we are given the task to design, prototype, build and test a robot in a short time frame. Then we compete in regional competitions where our members learn to use gracious professionalism with others. Our belief is that members of Team EMP can take what they are learning in the classroom and apply it to real-life skills in a tangible way.
Due to global pandemic, our 2020 competition season was cancelled and we competed in virtual challenges in the spring of 2021. However, we have been successful in the past and made it to the World Championships in 2019. We also have captained alliances in playoff rounds. None of this would have been possible without the donation and support from our community.
As we enter our 9th year as a team, we are committed to two major goals away from the competition field. First, we hope to maintain our status as an open membership team. We believe that anyone should be allowed to join and travel regardless of their backgrounds, the success of which heavily relies on our gracious donors. Our second focus is to spread STEM awareness and excitement to schools in our district and our community. In the past we have introduced different programs at the different elementary and middle schools in our district such as stem nights, FLL teams, activities for National coding week, and working with local scouting troops. We would love to do them this year but are pending due to COVID restrictions. At Park Hill South specifically, we have provided science activities to students in the special education department through our tutorial program. Also, we hoped to have started a new tradition which is our district robot reveal with Park Hill High School, where we can introduce our new competition robot and share new information we gained over the season.
As previously stated, a core value of our team is that no student should lose the ability to participate because of financial obstacles. To make this possible, we run several fundraisers and partner with many local businesses. We would like to continue to strive to achieve our fundraising goals. Our budget for this year includes the following: $3,000 for tools and parts, $10,000 in registration fees, $10,000 for travel, and $2,000 for promoting STEM, with the goal of about $25,000. The generous donations we received through the InvestNOW grant has allowed us to participate in multiple competitions, and the investment the Park Hill Community has shown to our program has helped us educate fellow students and community members on technological advances.
We appreciate the continued support for Team EMP 5126, from our community and look forward to future opportunities to educate our community on robotics and the FIRST program.