Mr. Leonard Mitzel MLA for Cypress-Medicine Hat

Mr. Leonard Mitzel
MLA for Cypress-Medicine Hat
Trans Canada Place
#5 1299, Trans Canada Way
Medicine Hat, AB T1B 1H9
cypress.medicinehat@assembly.ab.ca


Dear Mr. Mitzel:

I am Amanda Leonard, from Fort Erie Secondary School and a member of FESStronics Team 1680 a FRC team.

Have you heard of FIRST? It means For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. As a student team member, I can tell you the experience we receive from this program will last a lifetime. FIRST is a not-for-profit, educational organization that was founded to inspire and excite young people about science and technology by bringing together professional mentors with students from around the world. Dean Kamen. Founder of FIRST, imagines a day when the act of invention - that is, the work of scientists, engineers and technologists - is as revered in the popular culture as music, athletics and entertainment are today. FIRST’s vision is to create a world where science, technology are celebrated...where young people dream of becoming science and technology heroes. FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math. With support of many of the world’s most well -known companies, the not-for-profit organization hosts the FIRST Robotics Competitions. This program offers young people an opportunity to learn about science and technology as well as encouraging students to go onto post secondary and into occupations in these fields. FIRST demands Gracious Professionalism, this makes for better citizens within our communities.
Here are some statistics regarding FIRST
✓ there are 1.300 high school team in the FIRST program... only 67 of them Canadian
✓ they present 7 different countries
✓ there are 32,000 students and 19,000 mentors and volunteers from the professional community
✓ on Jan 6th 2007, this year’s game Rack N Roll was announced, only 6 weeks to build the robots
✓ after 6 weeks of construction, the robots are shipped to one of 37 regionals around the world
✓ currently there are only two Canadian regionals, both in Ontario
✓ Gracious Professionalism, help others & always using your best sportsmanship, is stressed

During this years Kick-Off event which introduce Rack N Roll the new 2007 game, the founder of FIRST, Dean Kamen, gave us a home work.. His assignment to all teams was to spread the word about this great program for high school students. He asked teams to send letters to our elected officials and invite them to a regional or two. Dean stated “ We have an unbelievable program. It’s been around for 15 years. We’ve taken out the risk, we’ve taken out the bugs. It works. We’ve proved it’s scalable. It has an unbelievable impact. It’s incredibly cost-effective. And you need it, the country needs it, and the world needs it. You need elected official to support us. And the best way is to show them not tell them”

So I am sending an invitation to meet Team 1680 FESStronics at one of the two Canadian regionals. Come see the action packed game Rack and Roll. Come get a close up view of our incredible robot in the pit area. Come speak with our students, teachers and professional mentors that make this happen. You will not be disappointed!

The FESStronics team 1680 would like to cordially invite you to the following FIRST Robotics competitions.

Waterloo Regional March 22nd - 24th 2007 at the University of Waterloo 200 University Ave. Waterloo
Greater Toronto Regional March 29th - 31st 2007 in Mississauga at the Hershey Center

Team 1680 would be honored to have your presence and photo taken with the team and robot.
Please visit one of the sites below to find out more information.
www.firstroboticscanada.org www.fesstronics.ca www.usfirts.org
or contact our lead Mentor/Teacher Mr. B. Ziegler at Fort Erie Secondary School (905) 871 4610.

I appreciate you taking time to read this letter and encourage you to look into the FIRST program
Thank you very much for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,


Amanda Leonard, member of FESStronics team 1680

All invitations and responses will be recorded publically.