ROCHESTER, NY — The Greater Rochester Robotics (GRR) FIRST Robotics Competition Team 340 has a mission to promote science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs and spread the ideals of FIRST, a mission that the Alsco Rochester branch is eager to support.
“Supporting GRR is about more than just supporting the current team of students,” said Alsco Rochester General Manager Anthony Barbato. “It’s about supporting the outreach they do in the community and the opportunities they generate for students throughout the greater Rochester area in STEM.”
Started in 1989, the name, Greater Rochester Robotics, was selected to reflect the organization’s diverse group of students from the Rochester area. GRR has averaged a team size of more than 35 students per year as well as a dedicated group of more than 20 mentors, most of which are parents of current and former team members. Over the 20+ years the team has been around, it has maintained diversity and equal opportunity by allowing students to be part of the team if their home district does not have a FIRST robotics team.
Through its outreach efforts, the GRR has also helped establish many Rochester-area teams as well as coached, mentored and sponsored more than 250 First Lego League (FLL) teams in the past three years alone. Additionally, GRR is also committed to helping in its community. Team members engage in community service projects, including participating in charity walks, working in the school’s Garden of the Saints and organizing Make a Difference Day.
“We wanted to support GRR because we see that the organization goes beyond just STEM to teaching students a number of important life skills, such as community service and the types of collaboration skills that are needed to succeed as a team,” said Barbato.
The team will use the donation from Alsco to cover the purchase of robotic components as well as transportation, food and lodging expenses the team incurs while travelling with the students to competitions in and out of state.