By Scottsdale Pinetop
The recent events of local high school robotics teams is a classic Cinderella story.
Against the odds, three of Scottsdale’s high school robotics teams advanced to the FIRST® Championships, an international robotics tournament held in Houston, Texas. But their celebration was short lived after discovering that teams from Chaparral, Desert Mountain and Saugaro might not be able to attend the competition.
In just 10 days, these student engineers need to raise at least $20,000 to compete. With such a short deadline, it’s nice to have local supporters to ensure their success.
Becoming SUSD’s new fairy godmothers, Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) Governing Board Member Pam Kirby and the Scottsdale Charros are lending their financial support to these robotics teams – committing $5,000 each to the three teams.
The FIRST® Championships is a prestigious international robotics tournament where over 400 teams from around the world compete in designing, building, programing and operating robots to accomplish prescribed tasks. Competitors include teams from North, Central, South America, China, India, the Middle East and Australia.
The leadership and support of Pam Kirby and the Scottsdale Charros is a testament to their service and dedication in helping make SUSD a leading public education district in Arizona. Their generosity celebrates the hard work of SUSD teachers and students that seek new solutions in technology and innovation.
The Charros and Pam Kirby are choosing to use their financial resources to make a difference within their local communities. That’s to be applauded, and remind us that generosity should be a norm rather than an exception, especially when it comes to exceptional students. We thank the Charros and Pam Kirby for taking the initiative in supporting SUSD and for helping make these student engineers’ dreams come true.
Even with the Charro’s and Kirby’s kindness, the teams still need additional support. If you would like to donate, please click here.