Wondering what our FTC cohort of #TeamREV has been up to? This week, get to know FTC Team #16011: Fayette County 4H, representing Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Tell us a little bit about your team’s background.

We have 10 team members, the biggest team we’ve ever had. They range from 7th to 12th grade and are from 5 different school districts. Our primary outreach activities are providing STEM experiences for middle and elementary students through activities at the fair, our local library, and spring race day.

What are a few recent achievements your team is proud of?

• We made it to States! We had two qualifiers in late February, where we won the Inspire Award. This was our first time as a team even being nominated for the Inspire Award. On both days, we were the #1 alliance captain's first pick and became the winning alliance. With our reliable robot, we even got to play in 8 out of the 10 semifinal and final matches. Now, our attention turns to our Robot Race Day this April.
• Our educator won an award for our Robot Race Day, The Jim Kahler Excellence in STEM Award! Robotics is a non-traditional pursuit in 4H and in rural PA in general, so it’s nice to see our outreach getting some traction statewide.
• Our biggest event, our 2023 Robot Race Day was again a success, and it gained the attention of PA 4H. Two team members have been meeting with the statewide STEM coordinator to discuss ways to make the 2024 event a statewide event.
• We are also proud to be helping a new FTC Team (#23744) that is trying to get started in Monessen. We’re very happy for there to be a second team south of Pittsburgh.
• This year's outreach at the Fayette County Fair was quite successful, as we recruited a new member as well as a new mentor. This is our first proper mentor from the tech industry! 

What goals are your team currently working on?

• Make sure the older team members transfer knowledge to the younger students
• With coaches possibly outgoing, train new adult mentors
• Increase CAD skills - we want a good looking robot
• Implement vision processing  
• Advance to states

What is your favorite part about being in the #TeamREV program?

Stickers! But seriously, it’s nice to be able to show that the build system and hardware in the REV FTC Starter Kit are still great resources for a non-rookie team.

Congratulations to Fayette County 4H for their hard work this season! Follow the team on these platforms:

• X (Twitter)
• Instagram
• YouTube