Community Outreach
The HOT Team is very active in the community. We participate in many community service projects, conduct robotics presentations, promote science and technology in our hometowns, are very involved in FLL and work to make our community a nicer and more fun place by volunteering for clean up programs and athletic events.
Buddy Break
Buddy Break is a community outreach program located at a local church in White Lake. Hot team members regularly attend to special needs children, giving parents a free afternoon. The famous “HotBot” keeps the kids occupied and lends an arm to the Lego building.
Milford Memories
The HOT Team sets up an activity tent at Milford Memories, a summer outdoor festival in our community. The HOT team’s activity tent includes activity packets, face painting, a button designing table, and tables full of Legos where kids can build whatever they want, including vehicles to race down a ramp. We show off Vex robots, old competition robots, and CASEY, our community service bot. Milford Memories provides an amazing opportunity for team members to interact with the community and inspire young minds.
Commerce Road Cleanup
The HOT Team has adopted a stretch of Commerce Road and helps to maintain it. Around four times a year, HOT Team members pick up roadside trash. Keeping our community safe and clean for everyone is a top priority.
Create and Code
The HOT team participates in Create and Code events at the Highland Public Library. We introduce kids to programming and robotics using simple block-based programming on iPads. Kids of all ages are welcome. Create and Code is a great way for young kids to get their first experience with engineering.
Youth Presentations
The HOT Team travels to various schools in the community to demonstrate our robots. We help to foster a sense of community, as well as introduce engineering concepts to the kids. We hope that someday we will inspire a new generation of scientists, engineers, and HOT Team members. No one is too young to be an engineer!
Local Parades
Everybody loves a parade. The HOT Team has participated in the Milford 4th of July Parade, the Milford Winter Holiday Parade, the Highland-White Lake Parade, and School Homecoming Parades. The team showcases their recent robots and banners and CASEY the community service robot. Children along the route are delighted by the balloon animals they receive from CASEY.
Huron River Cleanup
The Huron River Cleanup was on August 17, 2019 from 7:30 am-12 pm. It was more-or-less a simple canoeing trip, where volunteers would pay at the end with a trash bag filled with trash collected on the trip. Volunteers from both the HOT Team and the local communities along the river area came together to kayak and canoe, pick up trash, and have a bit of fun while doing it.
Mentoring FLL and FTC Teams
Many HOT Team members volunteer to mentor local FLL and FTC Teams. This inspires young minds and is a great experience for the volunteers. Our team piloted the FLL program and hosted the state championship for many years.