In Our Schools

The Hammerheads spread the principles of FIRST throughout the home waters of our School District.  

We have been surfing with FLL teams in Troy for years.  Troy has a large number of JrFLL (Junior FIRST LEGO League) and FLL (FIRST LEGO League) teams.  Many of our members are former JrFLL and FLL members and enjoy mentoring these enthusiastic “future Hammerheads”.  Our team provided a FLL practice scrimmage for three years before being ask by FIRST in Michigan to make it an official FIRST Qualifying Event.  This year, the third annual SharkFest hosted 19 FLL teams and 10 JrFLL teams.  We are proud to say this event is totally Hammerhead organized and run.  SharkFest receives strong support from the Troy School District as various administrators continue to attend and act as keynote speakers.  Our members also volunteer at the MI State FLL Championship as referees, judges, and we set-up and run the scoring/display software provide by National Instruments. 

With the formation of a middle school FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge) Pilot this year in Michigan, we have also mentored a Troy middle school FTC team and are scheduled to volunteer at the FIRST Tech Championship in Novi, MI. 
 

Every year we host presentations at the Troy Middle Schools to inform prospective team members about the workings of our team. Students have the opportunity to drive the robot and ask questions. We run these presentations as part of a district-wide middle school applied technologies program with the support of the science department.
 

CARE Co., the Troy Schools elementary after school care program,  love it when the Hammerheads and Sharkie, bring our robot to visit.  We get their gears turning with a hands-on engineering challenge, they join us in a craft, we hand out buttons or tattoos and, of course, everyone has a chance to drive our robot and play (or should I say swim) with Sharkie.  We also provide this presentation for area Cub Scout troops and summer camps.

And who doesn’t enjoy a parade? The Hammerheads, our robot, and our mascot, Sharkie, show our school spirit by marching in both Athens and Troy High school Homecoming parades.  We also partner with other school clubs.  We provide a VEX kit and any needed technical advice to the Science Olympiad team and collect Coke Reward Points through the Environmental Activist Club, which we donate to charities.  Morning doughnut sales on half days provide us a way to fundraise while interacting with fellow students and spreading the message of FIRST.  This year we took our fundraising efforts to an evening event with Movie Night.  Although the auditorium wasn’t full, we still consider it to be a success and are looking forward to another “night at the movies with the Hammerheads.” 
 

The Hammerheads support the STEM programs in own school district and community and through practicing FIRST values believe that we can help Dean change the culture one shore at a time.