When Jo Hailey’s two sons joined the First Robotics team at Seminole High School in Seminole, OK, she didn’t hesitate to accept the school’s request for her to help mentor the team.

"Of course, this was right up my alley and , it was an opportunity to spend quality time with my children as well as contribute to the community ."

First Robotics is a STEM-based program created by FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science andTechnology).The Robotics competition combines the excitement of sport with the rigors of science and technology by challenging teams of students to fund, build, and program industrial-size robots to play a difficult field game against like-minded competitors.The program has gained huge momentum in recent years. In most cases, teams are based out of schools, and programs can start for students as young as five years old and carry through into a student’s senior year.

That first year, the Seminole team won the Rookie All Star award at the Oklahoma Regional, which earned them a trip to the Worlds Competition in Houston, TX. Since then, Jo has continued to mentor the Seminole team, even though her boys have graduated. When asked by Stephen Howard, technology director for Wewoka Public Schools, to help mentor Wewoka’s High School team as well, she readily agreed

"This will be Wewoka’s Rookie Year , and I really ho pe to be able to help them win the Rookie All S tar so that they can go to World’s in Houston.” “ This is exciting for me. I have the opportunity to help influence the future members of our community and workforce. Many of the kids involved in First Robotic s have gone on to go to college for engineering, computer science, and other STEM - related fields. ”

Through Jo, TMCO is in great company in its support ofFIRST andFirst Robotics. Technology leaderssuch asNASA, Boeing, 3M, Apple, Dell, Solidworks, Google, Rockwell Automation,and even Enviro out ofSeminoleare active supporters of First Robotics, and FIRST, the organization behind the competition.

For more information on FIRST and/or First Robotics visit (https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/frc).If you or your children are interested in the Seminole High School or Wewoka High School Teamscontact

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