Taiwan
MVRT invited over 25 international students over the summer of 2016 to tour our facilities and
learn about the FIRST Robotics Competition. In early 2017, we continued the program and invited
a new group of 30 international students to tour Monta Vista once again. MVRT also held a demo
for the Taiwan Exchange Students. We are now supporting them as they start their own FRC team.
The team is currently meeting on a daily basis based on the coach’s responses and has had a
successful kickoff. They are meeting for Build Season and we are in constant contact with them for
them to be ready for this season. MVRT has also invited 25 new international students during the
season this year to tour our facilities and learn about the FIRST Robotics Competition. We hope to
continue a strong relationship and have them visit our facility every year and host a demo. We will
continue inviting them to our HeadStart camp and possibly even start more teams next year.
FLL
MVRT aims to spread FIRST ideals to not only the international community, but also to our local
community. Through our widespread FLL program, we inspire children to pursue STEM fields. In
the past four years, MVRT has formed over 25 FLL teams, and in the past two years, seven out of
the ten teams we have coached have made it to district championships. One of the teams we
coached, the Kennedians, even held a world record for the most number of points in the
2012-2013 Senior Solution FLL challenge. MVRT helps these students realize that FLL is not just
about winning, but that it’s about working as a team.
ThinkFIRST
The Monta Vista Robotics Team provides the community with STEM education by holding weekly
classes at numerous elementary all around the Bay Area. The program was founded in 2005, and
has grown to serve 5 local elementary schools and over 650 students.
OhanaXMVRT
MVRT formed a partnership with the Ohana Club, a club at Monta Vista dedicated to providing
special education students with as many skills as possible, to teach students STEM concepts in an
interactive, hands-on way. Throughout the years, our curriculum has evolved and improved based
on feedback from both the Ohana students and the Ohana officer team. The program was founded
in 2012 and has grown to have over 60 special education students participating in the program.
Sisters In STEM (SiSTEM)
Sisters in STEM (SiSTEM) is a program founded by our female veterans in 2016 to combat the lack
of girls in STEM and encourage more females to join the team. Many girls felt discouraged to be a
part of the team, especially in the engineering divisions, and MVRT often experienced low
retention rates of female members. To combat the lack of diversity in STEM, the SiSTEM initiative
was introduced. MVRT recognized the gender gap that currently exists in engineering fields and
provided a solution to the problem. With this program, we have had an 80% increase in female
attendance and member retention and an increase in overall team morale. With more people
involved in our design and execution, our team has improved as a whole, as has our community.
