Informational Meetings for the 2023-24 season

Who?

All Franklin area (neighboring communities are also welcome!) elementary and middle school parents & students with an interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (or just having fun with Legos and robots).

Click the links below for more details about time, location, and agendas:

***Although these meetings are split by school, if you have a schedule conflict, you are welcome to attend either night (May 23rd or 24th). Parents from outside of Franklin may also attend either night.

In the FIRST spirit of “Coopertition” (cooperating while competing), although these sessions will discuss Franklin’s FIRST Lego League program, the information you get from attending will also apply to our neighboring communities, such as Oak Creek, Greendale, Muskego, and across Milwaukee, Waukesha, & Racine counties.  You are welcome (even encouraged) to sign your kids up for programs in your local community – even if you join us in Franklin for this informational session.

What?

– FIRST LEGO League Discover – 4K-5K: This playful introductory STEM program ignites their natural curiosity and builds their habits of learning with hands-on activities in the classroom and at home using LEGO® Duplo bricks.

– FIRST LEGO League Explore – Grades 1-3: In Explore, teams of students focus on the fundamentals of engineering as they explore real-world problems, learn to design and code and create unique solutions made with LEGO bricks and powered by LEGO Education robot.

– FIRST LEGO League Challenge – Grades 4-8: Friendly competition is at the heart of Challenge, as teams of students engage in research, problem-solving, coding and engineering – building and programming a LEGO robot that navigates the missions of a robot game. As part of Challenge, teams also participate in a research project to identify and solve a relevant real-world problem.

We will also talk about “what’s next” after 8th grade. In both the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, Franklin Saber Robotics, the high school FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) team, earned the opportunity to travel to Houston, TX and compete in the FIRST World Championship tournament. There were over 50,000 STEM-minded kids, families, and mentors from around the world in attendance at this competition, representing 950+ high school FRC teams, middle-high school FTC teams, FLL Challenge teams, and FLL Explore teams. The level of energy, innovation, and inspiration shown by the participating kids was truly awe inspiring. THIS is why we do what we do for our kids!

Why?

FIRST LEGO League introduces science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to children ages 4-16* through fun, exciting hands-on learning. FIRST LEGO League participants gain real-world problem-solving experiences through a guided, global robotics program, helping today’s students and teachers build a better future together. In FIRST LEGO League, students engage in hands-on STEM experiences, building confidence, growing their knowledge and developing habits of learning. FIRST LEGO League’s three divisions inspire youth to experiment and grow their critical thinking, coding and design skills through hands-on STEM learning and robotics. Check out this Franklin FIRST Robotics website, or the FIRST Global Website at https://www.firstinspires.org/ for more details, and some great videos showing what you can expect.