Mentors & Sponsors

Mentors and Sponsors

"The only difference between (robotics) and all the other (sports) - every kid on our teams can turn pro. There's a job out there for every one of these kids."
- Dean Kamen, Founder of FIRST Robotics Competition

The students of FIRST Robotics Team 5719 at David & Mary Thomson C. I. aspire to build upon experiences and past successes, entering in 2017-18 season. (The students deserve it!) To make this happen, the team is currently seeking the following types of assistance from the community:

Mentors - Expertise in following areas:
- Engineering (Mechanical, Electrical), Computer Programming, Designer / CAD Operator, Machinist, Technician, Mechanic, Carpentry, Welding
- Marketing, Business Management, Fund-raising, Graphic Design, Writing, Public Speaking, Travel Logistics
- Commitment: Jan. - Mar. - 3 to 10 hours per week, less in other months.
Sponsors - Financial (tax-deductible), In-kind

Benefits of Mentoring
"As you climb the ladder, reach down and pull someone up with you." - Adriana Brown, President and COO of Project Eureka!

Provide guidance, expertise, and working environment for success:
- Steer students in the right direction
- Ask probing questions that encourage students to reflect and clarify their thinking
Teach life-long skills beneficial for success in a career:
- Thinking about a problem
- Encourage creativity, thinking "outside the box"
- Perseverance and patience to overcome challenges
- Adapting to changing circumstances
- Empathy, relating well with other team members, and learning to be forgiving
Offer insights on realities of careers - "what it takes" to be successful
- Opportunity at real-world experiences
Share passion for love of career work
- Instill confidence in youth
Feeling of joy and satisfaction from inspiring youth:
- Help to shape their future
- Watch youth learn and grow
- Help them to discover what they want to do in their future
Invest in today's youth to become tomorrow's competent employees

FIRST Robotics Mentors - Benefits on becoming a mentor.

Promotional video describing the FIRST Robotics Competition.

Please feel free to contact Edmund Kim at Edmund.Kim [at] TDSB [dot] ON [dot] CA or PinkTitansCA [at] gmail [dot] com who is happy to answer your questions.

Benefits of Sponsoring

Invest in today's youth to become your employees tomorrow
Visibility of your company at all events (tournaments, outreach, schools) attended by team members
Open volunteer opportunities for mentoring, inspiring youth

Financial donations via cheque are tax-deductable. A CRA Charity Receipt will be issued to sponsors because the team is based in the Toronto District School Board.

Sponsors will have their logo with weblinks displayed prominently at the Home Page of PinkTitans.ca, the team's website. Depending on the type of sponsorship, logos can also be displayed on team clothing, the robot, plus team banner displayed prominently at regional competitions and outreach events.

The Robotics Team plans to compete at two FIRST Robotics Competition District Events and at least one VEX Robotics Competition tournament.

Each District Event is attended by several dozen other teams, their families, and visitors from across the city, country, and internationally. FIRST Robotics events are broadcast online, enabling national and international exposure for the sponsor.

FIRST Robotics Competition has over 60,000 students participating on 2,300 teams in Canada, USA, and internationally. The 2016 FIRST World Championship was attended by 18,000 students from 40 countries, providing international exposure for team sponsors. (Source: FIRST Championship.)

VEX Robotics Competition is the fastest growing robotics platform in the world. More than 16,000 teams from 40 countries compete in 1,350 tournaments in a year. (Source: Robotics Education)

Please contact Edmund Kim at Edmund.Kim [at] TDSB [dot] ON [dot] CA or PinkTitansCA [at] gmail [dot] comcom) who is happy to answer your questions.

Above: Apr. 25, 2015. Team banner in Pit Area at FIRST World Championship in St. Louis, Missouri, attended by over 40,000 people from 39 countries over four days. (Source: FIRST Championship.)

Above: Team clothing bears logo of sponsors.

Partial sample of Pit Area at Regional Tournament of FIRST Robotics Competiton.

Read the full testimonial by Nithusan Ranjanathan (Captain of 2015 FIRST Robotics Team 5719) on the impact of the FIRST Robotics program on his career pathway:

"... it helped me to develop valuable team work skills by the way that we must co-operate as a team."
"... time management ... is just one of the valuable lessons that our members learned apart from the vast knowledge of the mechanical and electrical aspects."
"... I finally got to make connections from what we learned (in school) to the real world. This in turn helped me to pick an appropriate career path."
"... it is a truly exceptional experience which every student should indulge in."

Why Support Children's Interests In Robotics?

Benefits Of Robotics Education

Fostering STEM-focused skills of Creativity, Collaboration, Communication, Critical Thinking:
- Opportunities for comprehensive engagement:
  - Examining and understanding design systems
  - Fostering systems-thinking approach to problem-solving
- Encouraging processes of problem-solving: Curiosity, designing, making, connecting, applying, extending, revisiting
- Opportunities for meeting and working with diverse people, academically and socially, with different view-points and perspectives
Competition aspect of FIRST and VEX Robotics programs enhances learning
Appeal to diverse demographics and age groups
Providing experiences of demonstrating grit and perseverance in preparation for overcoming future challenges and making wise decisions in life outside robotics.
- Students take ownership of their robots
  - Building sense of accomplishment
  - Building confidence
Practicing and refining fine motor skills
Instills and fuels passion for learning new skills and knowledge.
Instills motivation to succeed at academics in pursuit of long-term career goals.