Congrats to George Mason High School - The robotics team received a $4,000 sponsorship check from ExxonMobil and the Capital Petroleum Group.
Mason Robotics Team Receives Funds From ExxonMobil
The robotics team received a $4,000 sponsorship check from ExxonMobil and the Capital Petroleum Group.
By Woodrow Bellamy III
August 12, 2011
http://fallschurch.patch.com/articles/mason-robotics-team-receives-funds-from-exxonmobil
It’s not time to go back to school yet, but the George Mason High School robotics program is certainly ready for the upcoming academic year. Last week, Gerald French of ExxonMobil and Joe Mamo of the Capital Petroleum Group teamed up to give the robotics team a $4,000 sponsorship check.
The funds will be used to provide transportation, equipment and materials for the annual robotic competitions that Mason often competes in.
“Parents of people on the team happen to know people that work for various organizations, that’s the way we do most of our canvassing,” said John Ballou, a teacher at Mason and the lead instructor for the robotics team. “It just so happens that Exxon has sponsored us now twice.”
The team enters an annual competition against 20,000 other high schools from around the nation held by FIRST Robotics (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a New Hampshire-based non-profit organization that inspires kids to be leaders in science and technology.
In January, FIRST Robotics will release design guidelines and then allow six weeks for schools to build a robot and then enter the national competition. The entry fee is $4,000 and prizes include scholarship opportunities and other incentives for the teams.
Last year the Mason team made it to the regional quarterfinals but was unable to qualify for the national competition and is hoping for better luck this year.
“We do a lot to support the D.C. regional group of schools,” Ballou said. “That includes all the high schools in D.C., Northern Virginia and a bunch of southern Maryland schools as well. There’s an alliance of schools right around here that typically meet to compete against each other, we host their training sessions every year.”
Ballou is currently hard at work rebuilding the Mason robotics lab and writing more grant applications in preparation for the 2011-2012 school year. It looks to be a promising year for the team as they seek their first competition championship, entering their eighth year as a team.