North Branch Robotics is looking for mentors | News
“It’s the hardest fun you’ll ever have.” These are the words often used to describe participation in the FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge) Robotics program by both participants and mentors. North Branch began its robotics program in the fall of 2008 with a high school program and quickly realized it needed to be expanded to include middle school students. Becky Leuer, who began both programs and is currently the lead for all FTC programs said “it became apparent that our kids needed foundational knowledge at a much earlier age to be competitive,” and so the FTC program was instituted in 2014. North Branch began with 3 FTC teams and expanded to 5 the next year. Currently North Branch has 4 teams with numbers making it likely that a 5th team will be added for the 2024-25 school year and the funds thanks to grants from Team Foundation and the Gene Hass Foundation.
Mentors make the program fly. Without adult mentors, 2-3 per team, the program would not survive. North Branch is looking for new mentors. No experience is necessary and training is provided. “We won’t leave anyone out on an island. The mentor team works together as one unit to make sure all teams are successful. Please consider joining our team,” said Leuer. As Gina Zarbok said, “ Mentoring is rewarding, these kids are so impressive. It isn’t hard to work with adolescents who want to create, learn, and inspire others.” Interested in more information about becoming a mentor? Contact the North Branch Activities Department at 651-674-1512 or email nbftc@isd138.org.
