Thanks to Christal Bennett for helping us spread the message of FIRST Robotics! Check out the clips here.

http://www.okcfox.com/newsroom/morning_news/videos/vid_383.shtml

Students and instructors from Team 1742 have dedicated themselves to modeling Gracious Professionalism, and communicating the value of the FIRST Robotics experience across the state of Oklahoma. As a result of that commitment, Team 1742 was, and is, an important factor in the explosive growth of FIRST Robotics in Oklahoma.

We have made presentations to state legislators, the Noble Foundation, the Oklahoma State School Board Association, the Oklahoma Career Tech Convention in Tulsa, the Oklahoma Pre-Engineering Conference, Career Tech Directors, schools outside our districts to help start a team, local school boards, the chamber of commerce, and the Rotary and Lion’s Clubs.

We have made trips around the state to help other teams, and were fortunate to win the 2008 Johnson and Johnson Gracious Professionalism Award at the OKC Regional. We have been helped by many teams in the past and present.

We have created, funded, and mentored three FIRST Lego Teams in Moore Oklahoma. Teams Aftershock, Powersurge and the Microwaves.

Team 1742 makes it a point to reach out to those less fortunate than ourselves. Every year the team anonymously adopts at least 2 families in the community and makes their holidays brighter by providing Christmas presents and dinner.

All members of Team Shockwave are certified by OSHA for two years.

Let's fill Con Convention Center March 31st at Noon. Admission is FREE!

For the second year, FIRST Robotics Team 1742 - SHOCKWAVE will be handing out our student designed tickets to encourage people to come out and see one of the most exciting events around.

 

For those who are not a member of the FIRST robotics community, it is difficult to understand how much of a commitment it is to be a FIRST mentor. I am starting to understand after watching ours at work for the last two years. We are fortunate to have one of the best mentors in the state of Oklahoma. His name is Art Waldenville, and he is the definition of a gracious professional. He leads by example and makes sure we understand that the robot isn’t the finished product, we are.

Mr. Waldenville dedicates his time and energy promoting FIRST and what it stands for in our community and across the state. He is always one of the first to answer the call of Regional FIRST Director Harold Holley, and is a huge reason for the tremendous growth of FIRST robotics in Oklahoma over the past 5 years. This year, he supported us as we created and mentored two new FIRST Lego League teams. While volunteering as a judge at the very first Oklahoma FLL championship, he had fun watching both teams excel.

Due to his efforts, Team 1742 has more than tripled in size during his five years as a mentor. He has provided a model for other technology centers and high schools to implement FIRST Robotics. During the build season, he often travels out to other teams helping them in those dark hours when they aren’t sure if they are ever going to get a robot to work. Through him we have learned that no matter how difficult Calculus, Physics, and Engineering are, we all must find time to go out and help others.

We are very proud of our mentor, but we are not the only ones. 2008 Woodie Flowers Award winner Tonya Scott of Team 476 says, “Art is the kind of person that we would all like to be; sincere, thoughtful, kind, and intelligent. He always greets me with a big hug and friendly smile and the compassion he feels for his students is equally noticeable. Art also sees the value of building kids with robots, and he is a true, gracious friend and colleague in FIRST. I know without a doubt that if I call on Art for help or for a spare part, which I have done many times in the past, that he will promptly provide whatever is needed. His heart is truly gracious and he gives so much of himself.”

At competition, he continues to help countless teams with whatever they need. I have learned that people’s true character shows when they are under stress. Under the pressures of an FRC competition, Mr. Waldenville is at his best. He never fails to wear a smile and encourage his students to have fun and learn from others.

Former Shockwave member Melinda Merritt says, “Our lab is his home away from home. He does so much research, and gives up so much time for his students, we couldn’t be more grateful.” As part of Dean’s homework last year we have found that over 80 percent of former Shockwave members are still enrolled as engineering majors. I believe the experience he gives us is a large reason why. “These six weeks (build season) is why I do FIRST. Watching all of you work together, to work through problems, that is what motivates me,” explains Mr. Waldenville.

Our team has enjoyed many successes, including being awarded the Gracious Professionalism Award the past two years. There is an obvious reason for this. We are a reflection of our coach.

FIRST Robotics Team 1742 is a team dedicated to promoting FIRST and pursuing degrees in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). FIRST Team 1742 makes a point to be gracious professionals in all aspects of life and active in all areas of the FIRST community. With over 80% of former Shockwave members pursing Engineering degrees, we are making an impact in the community and lives of those around us. 

            FIRST is about making a difference in the lives of students all over the world by inspiring young people to become science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting programs that inspire innovation, build self-confidence, and foster communication skills. FIRST robotics team 1742 Shockwave has made this our goal, starting at the local level then continuing higher; we hope to spark interest in students to become future engineers and to promote awareness about FIRST and its mission. Over the past three years, we've done this by serving our communities through FLL, FRC, and promoting STEM at the local, state, and national levels.

         Our business model has allowed us to have sustained support from our generous sponsors. We couldn't have accomplished any of this without them: Moore Norman Technology Center, Johnson Controls, The University of Oklahoma College of Engineering, Boeing, and our newest sponsor JCPenney. These gracious donors have given us tremendous aid in providing mentors and learning opportunities we never would have had. Our sponsors are and have been the key pillar in our past, present, and future success as a team. We are also grateful for the vision and dedication of our astounding mentors and instructors, Jason Rausch and, Woodie Flowers award winner, Art Waldenville.

           FIRST Robotics Team 1742 is a passionate supporter of FIRST Lego League. For the past three years, we have started, funded, and mentored three FIRST Lego League Teams, Powersurge and Aftershock. This past year, we have started a brand new team- the Microwaves. Just this year alone, we donated over $1,000 to help each of these teams buy Lego kits and field elements. Each week, at least one of our FIRST members of Shockwave Team 1742 donated their time and energy into guiding these elementary school kids. They would go through the Lego Mindstorm tutorials, put together Lego parts, and help brainstorm strategies for the game.  We put special emphasis on making sure the Lego robots were student-designed and student-built; we were just there to help work out the kinks. They quickly learned how to work with one another and how the design process works. The most gratifying part of the experience was seeing how much the student's confidence and abilities grew and seeing how much they enjoyed what they were doing!

             Our support doesn't stop there though, we also volunteered as extra help, referees, and judges at the FLL qualifier and the state championship. We were highly honored to be selected as referees and judges, the highest tribute going to our mentors for being the head referee and the head judge. We are also proud of FLL teams; two teams went on to state. FIRST Team 1742 Shockwave prides itself in helping the students in our community to be more involved in math and science and becoming active FIRST members. 

               FIRST Robotics Team 1742 takes great pleasure in not only assisting with FIRST Lego League, but also helping within the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Community. Being a gracious professional means while you succeed, you help others succeed along with you; here with FIRST Team Shockwave, we take it to heart. For the past five years, FIRST Team Shockwave has traveled and presented the message of FIRST to local areas to help build FRC teams, one being FIRST Team 2793. In our second year, we began the essential tradition of mentoring rookie teams with our support of FIRST Team 2045. Since then, we have extended our support to FIRST Team 2461, FIRST Team 2793, FIRST Team 2829, and many more at regional competitions and during build season. 

            FIRST team 1742 Shockwave strives to promote FIRST and the number one goal of FIRST-gracious professionalism. One way we've been able to achieve this is by holding a scrimmage on the weekend before the shipping date ("Bag and Tag") for the competition. Over the past three years we've been able to hold this event at the Science Museum of Oklahoma in partnership with our sponsor Boeing, allowing easier access for the general public to come out and see what FRC is about as well as allowing more teams to attend the event. Holding this event is very important not only because it promotes FIRST, but it also gives teams the opportunity to see what the actual competition will be like by being able to play against other FRC teams on a field just like the actual competition field. 

         Another way we help to promote FIRST is by going to the different high schools in our community. Every year, one of our mentors and a couple of our students take out our robot from the previous year and go talk to the students about getting involved in FIRST. They explain the game and demonstrate what our robot can do, as well as trying to create a better understanding about what FRC is and how it's making a difference in the lives of students all across the world. By talking to hundreds of students from different high schools, we hope to spark their interest in pursuing a degree in STEM and getting the word out about FIRST.  We make it a high priority to reach out to underrepresented groups. As a result, we went from having one girl in the program to eight. Girls have even held high leadership positions such as the driver and this year we have a girl co-captain. We want this message to reach out to all aspects of our society.

          Besides the impact we make by spreading the word about FIRST and FRC outside of competition is the impact we make at competition. One of the biggest things FIRST team 1742 Shockwave does at competition is helping out teams get through inspection. Don't be surprised if you see a member of Shockwave in someone else's pit because our goal is to get everyone through inspection that first day. Last year, two of our team members went out and helped another team build their entire robot from scratch and got them through inspection the first day of competition. Whether they need electrical,mechanical, or programming assistance, we will help any way we can.

            FIRST team 1742 Shockwave is recognized at the state and national levels for our commitment to STEM education and FIRST. Our mentors, Jason Rausch and Woodie Flowers award winner, Art Waldenville, as well as our past and current students, have played a huge role in the awareness and explosion of robotics in our state. They have presented to state and national leaders in education about the importance of FIRST as a learning experience and continue to promote the connection between Pre-Engineering Programs in our state and FIRST. Our team has traversed the state of Oklahoma presenting to the Noble Foundation, Oklahoma State School Board Association, Oklahoma Pre-Engineering Conference, ODCTE Directors Meeting, and Oklahoma State Legislatures. These efforts helped in playing an important role in fulfilling the vision of establishing the very first Oklahoma City Regional. 

            This year, we've also had the privilege of presenting in other conventions such as the Creativity Conference and the State-Wide Project Lead the Way Counselors Conference. Members of FIRST team 1742 Shockwave were able to introduce our past robot and explain what we do and our involvement in FIRST. It gave us the opportunity to tell people how important FIRST and STEM education is to our learning and how it has allowed us to show them what high school students are capable of. 

          Over the past years, FIRST team 1742 Shockwave has presented to many of the communities civic clubs about our FIRST team and the importance of STEM education. Each year, we invite advanced math students in the eighth grade to the Oklahoma Regional. We provide team T-Shirts, bus transportation, and make sure they feel like they are a part of our team. 

           FIRST team 1742 Shockwave is very committed to the FIRST community  and spreading awareness about FRC, our most important initiative this year is to try and "pack the house" during the regional competition. Last year was the first year of trying to do achieve this goal. We did that by printing out 3,500 tickets saying free admission with the times and dates of the competition days and handed them out to as many people as we came into contact with in an effort to spread the word about FRC and let people know what FIRST is about. This year, we have signed an agreement with the OKC Thunder, and they are giving us the opportunity to pass out even more promotional tickets at one of their games!  

            Packing the house at competition isn't the only way we're trying to spread awareness about FIRST-we took it to the media. Just recently, FOX 25 news came and interviewed us about how we got involved with it, what this year's game is, and how we're going to build our robot. This was a huge accomplishment in our efforts to promote FIRST and STEM education.

            FIRST Team 1742 Shockwave continues its positive influence on students and teams all over the state by promoting FIRST, STEM, and gracious professionalism on and off the competition field. We value the experience FIRST and FRC gives us and hope we can spread and share this incredible experience with everyone we come in contact with. Our primary goal is not to promote US, but it's to ensure that FIRST Robotics not only continues to inspire but that it expands beyond our imaginations. It doesn't matter where the Shockwave starts, it's how far it travels that counts and that the message of FIRST goes along with it.