A B O U T U S
M I S S I O N
Francis W. Parker Mission Statement: http://www.fwparker.org/mission
The Francis W. Parker School educates students to think and act with empathy, courage and clarity as responsible citizens and leaders in a democratic society and global community.
FIRST Robotics Mission Statement: http://www.usfirst.org/aboutus/vision
Our mission is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership.
Robotic Colonels Mission Statement (April 2015):
In support of the mission and vision of FIRST and the mission and ethos of Francis W. Parker School, the Robotic Colonels (students, mentors, advisors, and parents) will create a positive environment where mentors and students work side by side as equal partners to foster leadership, teamwork, and innovation through the practice and employment of science, technology, engineering, math. We practice gracious professionalism in all that we do following the Parker credo “Everything to Help, Nothing to Hinder”.
Francis W. Parker Mission Statement: http://www.fwparker.org/mission
The Francis W. Parker School educates students to think and act with empathy, courage and clarity as responsible citizens and leaders in a democratic society and global community.
FIRST Robotics Mission Statement: http://www.usfirst.org/aboutus/vision
Our mission is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership.
Robotic Colonels Mission Statement (April 2015):
In support of the mission and vision of FIRST and the mission and ethos of Francis W. Parker School, the Robotic Colonels (students, mentors, advisors, and parents) will create a positive environment where mentors and students work side by side as equal partners to foster leadership, teamwork, and innovation through the practice and employment of science, technology, engineering, math. We practice gracious professionalism in all that we do following the Parker credo “Everything to Help, Nothing to Hinder”.
F R A N C I S W . P A R K E R R O B O T I C S H I S T O R Y
In the fall of 2002, two Francis W. Parker (FWP) seniors, Jamie Shkolnik and Zach Grossman, approached science teachers George Austin and Xiao Zhang and the shop teacher, Joey Wade, about starting a FIRST Robotics Challenge (FRC) team. Additionally the students found a few professional engineers notable from Newark Electronics. The lead engineer being Kesha Calton. Shkolnik and Grossman then recruited other Parker Students and students from Gordon Tech High School, which later became DePaul College Prep. The students then decided to each take a free period during the 2002-03 school year so they would have a chance each day to work on FRC. The students, with guidance from Austin, Zhang, Wade and Calton and a small budget provided by the FWP science department, headed by Anne Marie Fries, and support from their parents, set out on a journey to compete in FRC. The team of students registered team #1055 “Frank’s Garage.” Frank’s Garage competed in the 2003 Midwest Regional and won the Rookie All Star Award. Winning the award qualified the team for Worlds which was held that year in Houston's Reliant Stadium and they competed in the Archimedes Division. The team finished Worlds with a record of 2-5.
After a successful rookie season, the students and faculty got approval to turn robotics into an official course called Introduction to Engineering for the following year. The team then competed at the 2004 Midwest Regional and finished with a record of 3-4. Due to major renovations happening at FWP, the lack of space did not allow Frank’s Garage to compete after 2004 and robotics at Francis W. Parker was paused.
A few years later, in 2006-07, robotics at FWP saw light once again. A middle school FLL team, led by Adam Colestock, was started under the team name, “Robotic Colonels.” In the team's rookie year, they won the Project Award and qualified for the Illinois State FLL tournament. Additionally, high school students at FWP still had an interest in robotics so the students at FWP joined team 1739, the Chicago Knights, a community based team led by Jackie Moore, located at IIT, for the 2007-09 FRC seasons. The team competed at the Midwest and Wisonsin Regionals and also attended Worlds in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
Then, in fall of 2009, high school robotics was brought back to FWP, this time in full force by the efforts of seniors, Max Braun, Jared Johnson, Brett Saito, James Mcdonald, Zack Dookeran and Cecilie Tassone and engineering mentor Dick Ledford and Business Mentor, Mike Johnson. In the fall of 2009 FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) team 3507 Robotheosis was created. In their rookie year, team 3507 qualified for state and was the Finalist Alliance First Pick at the Illinois State FTC Tournament.
In the 2009-10 school year the robotics team began competing in FRC once again, with the help of the NASA Alliance Robotics Project grant. They now competed under the team number 3135, the Robotic Colonels. In the 2010 season the FRC team competed in two Regionals (Midwest and Minnesota North Star) and won the Rookie All Star Award at both events and qualified for worlds. However, since the robotics program was so new, the team was unable to procure funds to compete at worlds.
In 2010, the FLL middle school program expanded from one team to two because of the large interest in robotics. Additionally the FTC and FRC programs continued to compete.
During the 2013-14 season, FTC team 3507, Robotheosis, had a very successful season, under the leadership of new Head Coach Meredith Card, FWP Math Resource Specialist. At the CMSA Regional they won the Rockwell Collins Innovate Award and at the IIT Regional, the team finished in the rankings, was the number one alliance captain, and won the tournament. Then, due to significant student interest, in 2014, FWP added a second FTC team, 9410 Robo Galactic Corp. 9410 competed for only the 2014 season and the team recombined under 3507 Robotheosis for the 2015-17 seasons.
Then during the 2015-16 FTC season, under the leadership of new Head Coach and FWP Computer Science Teacher, Aaron Lee, 3507 won the Rockwell Collins Innovate Award and the 3rd Place Inspire Award, qualifying them for the Illinois State FTC Tournament. At the State Tournament the team was an Innovate Award Finalist.
In the 2016 FRC season The Robotic Colonels competed at Midwest Regional and had a record of 6-4. Team 3135 then got an invite to attend worlds at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, Missouri where the team had a record of 4-6.
The following year at the beginning of the 2016-17 FTC season, it was decided that FWP robotics would pause the FRC team to focus on FTC. In the 16-17 FTC season, the team was mentioned as a finalist for virtually every award at the Chicago League Championship and the team won
the Inspire Award.
The 2017-18 season marked dramatic changes to robotics at Parker. Led by Head Coach, Elizabeth Druger, Parker launched underwater robotics by fielding a MATE ROV team. The team made a strong showing at their first regional competition and won the Super Team Award. In the same year, one of the FLL teams, Sophisticated AI, won the Champion's Award at the Illinois State tournament and went on to compete at Worlds in Detroit. And the FTC team 3507 won the Inspire Award at the Chicago League Championship for the second year in a row and also made history by being the first Chicago team to advance to the North Super Regional after winning the Rockwell Collins Innovate Award Winner at the Illinois State Tournament. Also, one of Parker’s longtime mentors, Mike Johnson, was awarded the Compass Award at the Illinois State Tournament. Inspired by the excitement of being involved in FIRST for a number of years, Nathan Saterfield brought together a number of like minded individuals to organize the first Chicago Robotics Invitational at Parker over the summer for FTC teams who wanted to continue to compete in a modified version of that year’s game. Teams came from across the country and outside the US and the event was such a huge success that it has become an annual event.
The following year, 2018-19, US Robotics got a dedicated facility at Parker, complete with new state-of-the art equipment. That year, FTC team 3507 won the Inspire Award for the 3rd year in a row at the Chicago League Championship and moved on to be a member of the Winning Alliance at the Illinois State Tournament and attended the World Championship in Detroit. The year also saw the return of FTC team 9410, but with the new name, “Frank’s Garage” in honor of the first robotics team that was started at Parker back in 2002.
The 2019-20 season had Devyn Keeney join as a mentor to the FTC program and she helped team 3507 win their 2nd State Championship and was slated to return to the World Championship when the season was cut short by the Covid pandemic. The ROV season was also cancelled before the first regional event even took place. But the 2020-21 year saw the addition of JP Navin as a mentor and the ROV team won the Midwest Regional competition and gained an invite to attend the world championship in August of 2021.
During 2020-21, Brianna Ifft came aboard as an FTC Coach and FWP Computer Science Teacher. Covid pandemic continued to pose restrictions on robotics at Parker, so both 3507 and 9410 FTC Teams started the season with limited in-person meetings. Once allowed, 9410 did start to come in person to build their robot, but compared to past seasons, the build time was extremely limited due to the pandemic restrictions. However, they still competed virtually in most of the league meets, and league championship, but did not advance to state. FTC Team 3507 decided to opt out of building a robot for this season, and instead focused on some side projects. They took on the reorganization of the Robotics Garage, did logo redesigns for all of Parker robotics, and revived an FRC control system to build a gokart that they proudly showed off at the club fair in the fall of 2021.
In the summer of 2021, Nathan Satterfield and Devyn Keeney headed up the efforts to once again host the Chicago Robotics International. Even with Covid restrictions in place, this event was a huge success. Over 20 teams competed including teams from Romania and across the US.
Currently, there are upwards of 4 FLL teams, 2 FTC teams, and 1 ROV team at Parker and a brand new Introduction to Engineering course in the US that will be team-taught by the head coaches of the robotics teams, Elizabeth Druger and Brianna Ifft.
(Last Updated Fall of 2021)
After a successful rookie season, the students and faculty got approval to turn robotics into an official course called Introduction to Engineering for the following year. The team then competed at the 2004 Midwest Regional and finished with a record of 3-4. Due to major renovations happening at FWP, the lack of space did not allow Frank’s Garage to compete after 2004 and robotics at Francis W. Parker was paused.
A few years later, in 2006-07, robotics at FWP saw light once again. A middle school FLL team, led by Adam Colestock, was started under the team name, “Robotic Colonels.” In the team's rookie year, they won the Project Award and qualified for the Illinois State FLL tournament. Additionally, high school students at FWP still had an interest in robotics so the students at FWP joined team 1739, the Chicago Knights, a community based team led by Jackie Moore, located at IIT, for the 2007-09 FRC seasons. The team competed at the Midwest and Wisonsin Regionals and also attended Worlds in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
Then, in fall of 2009, high school robotics was brought back to FWP, this time in full force by the efforts of seniors, Max Braun, Jared Johnson, Brett Saito, James Mcdonald, Zack Dookeran and Cecilie Tassone and engineering mentor Dick Ledford and Business Mentor, Mike Johnson. In the fall of 2009 FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) team 3507 Robotheosis was created. In their rookie year, team 3507 qualified for state and was the Finalist Alliance First Pick at the Illinois State FTC Tournament.
In the 2009-10 school year the robotics team began competing in FRC once again, with the help of the NASA Alliance Robotics Project grant. They now competed under the team number 3135, the Robotic Colonels. In the 2010 season the FRC team competed in two Regionals (Midwest and Minnesota North Star) and won the Rookie All Star Award at both events and qualified for worlds. However, since the robotics program was so new, the team was unable to procure funds to compete at worlds.
In 2010, the FLL middle school program expanded from one team to two because of the large interest in robotics. Additionally the FTC and FRC programs continued to compete.
During the 2013-14 season, FTC team 3507, Robotheosis, had a very successful season, under the leadership of new Head Coach Meredith Card, FWP Math Resource Specialist. At the CMSA Regional they won the Rockwell Collins Innovate Award and at the IIT Regional, the team finished in the rankings, was the number one alliance captain, and won the tournament. Then, due to significant student interest, in 2014, FWP added a second FTC team, 9410 Robo Galactic Corp. 9410 competed for only the 2014 season and the team recombined under 3507 Robotheosis for the 2015-17 seasons.
Then during the 2015-16 FTC season, under the leadership of new Head Coach and FWP Computer Science Teacher, Aaron Lee, 3507 won the Rockwell Collins Innovate Award and the 3rd Place Inspire Award, qualifying them for the Illinois State FTC Tournament. At the State Tournament the team was an Innovate Award Finalist.
In the 2016 FRC season The Robotic Colonels competed at Midwest Regional and had a record of 6-4. Team 3135 then got an invite to attend worlds at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, Missouri where the team had a record of 4-6.
The following year at the beginning of the 2016-17 FTC season, it was decided that FWP robotics would pause the FRC team to focus on FTC. In the 16-17 FTC season, the team was mentioned as a finalist for virtually every award at the Chicago League Championship and the team won
the Inspire Award.
The 2017-18 season marked dramatic changes to robotics at Parker. Led by Head Coach, Elizabeth Druger, Parker launched underwater robotics by fielding a MATE ROV team. The team made a strong showing at their first regional competition and won the Super Team Award. In the same year, one of the FLL teams, Sophisticated AI, won the Champion's Award at the Illinois State tournament and went on to compete at Worlds in Detroit. And the FTC team 3507 won the Inspire Award at the Chicago League Championship for the second year in a row and also made history by being the first Chicago team to advance to the North Super Regional after winning the Rockwell Collins Innovate Award Winner at the Illinois State Tournament. Also, one of Parker’s longtime mentors, Mike Johnson, was awarded the Compass Award at the Illinois State Tournament. Inspired by the excitement of being involved in FIRST for a number of years, Nathan Saterfield brought together a number of like minded individuals to organize the first Chicago Robotics Invitational at Parker over the summer for FTC teams who wanted to continue to compete in a modified version of that year’s game. Teams came from across the country and outside the US and the event was such a huge success that it has become an annual event.
The following year, 2018-19, US Robotics got a dedicated facility at Parker, complete with new state-of-the art equipment. That year, FTC team 3507 won the Inspire Award for the 3rd year in a row at the Chicago League Championship and moved on to be a member of the Winning Alliance at the Illinois State Tournament and attended the World Championship in Detroit. The year also saw the return of FTC team 9410, but with the new name, “Frank’s Garage” in honor of the first robotics team that was started at Parker back in 2002.
The 2019-20 season had Devyn Keeney join as a mentor to the FTC program and she helped team 3507 win their 2nd State Championship and was slated to return to the World Championship when the season was cut short by the Covid pandemic. The ROV season was also cancelled before the first regional event even took place. But the 2020-21 year saw the addition of JP Navin as a mentor and the ROV team won the Midwest Regional competition and gained an invite to attend the world championship in August of 2021.
During 2020-21, Brianna Ifft came aboard as an FTC Coach and FWP Computer Science Teacher. Covid pandemic continued to pose restrictions on robotics at Parker, so both 3507 and 9410 FTC Teams started the season with limited in-person meetings. Once allowed, 9410 did start to come in person to build their robot, but compared to past seasons, the build time was extremely limited due to the pandemic restrictions. However, they still competed virtually in most of the league meets, and league championship, but did not advance to state. FTC Team 3507 decided to opt out of building a robot for this season, and instead focused on some side projects. They took on the reorganization of the Robotics Garage, did logo redesigns for all of Parker robotics, and revived an FRC control system to build a gokart that they proudly showed off at the club fair in the fall of 2021.
In the summer of 2021, Nathan Satterfield and Devyn Keeney headed up the efforts to once again host the Chicago Robotics International. Even with Covid restrictions in place, this event was a huge success. Over 20 teams competed including teams from Romania and across the US.
Currently, there are upwards of 4 FLL teams, 2 FTC teams, and 1 ROV team at Parker and a brand new Introduction to Engineering course in the US that will be team-taught by the head coaches of the robotics teams, Elizabeth Druger and Brianna Ifft.
(Last Updated Fall of 2021)