Press Release
Girl Scouts win award at FIRST Robotics Competition
Competition culmination of Teen Scouts' Gold Award project
For Immediate Release
Date: January 24, 2008
Newark, DE – In 2007, Girl Scout Erin Lawler contemplated which service project she should do to earn her Gold Award. She decided to bring her own love of science, technology and engineering to low-income girls living in Wilmington’s Hope Zone. But how?
Erin remembered what initially sparked her interest in science and technology as a kid – engineering and building robots in the FIRST Lego League. Designed to teach kids about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) in a fun, hands-on setting, the FIRST Lego League spans the globe and holds annual regional, national and international competitions. A few years ago, Erin’s team went on to the national competition and was honored at the White House by President Bush. These experiences have led Erin to want to pursue a career in engineering.
Erin decided that if she could help spark interest in STEM in girls from low-income families, then she could help open doors for them and lay the foundation for their future success.
With help from her high school science teacher Cheryl Potocki, and Angie Cright, Director of Outreach for the Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay, Erin identified a handful of 5th grade girls who would become the Girl Scout Council’s inaugural FIRST Lego League Team.
With Erin as their teacher, mentor and role model, the girls did what few of their socioeconomic status have the opportunity to achieve – design, engineer, program and build a motorized robot out of Legos. Through this project, the girls strengthened their math and science skills in a real world setting while practicing teamwork and problem solving.
With Erin leading the way, the Girl Scouts Lego Team of Wilmington, nicknamed the “MOE-Bees” (MOE standing for Miracle of Engineering, the slogan of DuPont, the Lego League Competition’s title sponsor), won a trophy award titled “Against All Odds,” an acknowledgement of the many obstacles the girls had to overcome in order to participate in the league. In addition to winning the award, the MOE-Bees pre-qualified to go to the regional competition at the University of Delaware!
On Saturday, January 19, Erin, along with team mates Na-Kya Bessix and Brezeana Goodridge, attended the regional competition, where over 55 teams from across the region competed for the chance to go to nationals. Although they did not qualify to move onto the national competition, Erin, Na-Kya and Brezeana were incredibly happy and proud of what they had accomplished. When asked what she thought of the whole experience, and of science and technology, Na-Kya said “It’s really cool!”
A leading advocate for and expert on girls, the Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay builds girls of courage, confidence and character by providing personal leadership development and programs that teach skills for the real world. To learn more about Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay Council, visit www.GSCB.org or call 1-800-341-4007.
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