COMMUNITY IMPACT

See how we're making an impact in our community - 1000+ hours a year of outreach, mentorship, and advocacy.

In the Community

How we give back

Within FIRST

Building a stronger tomorrow

Advocacy

Forming relationships

Highlight

THE IMPACT AWARD

The Impact Award is the most prestigious award in FIRST Robotics, honoring teams that best embody the purpose and goals of FIRST through significant, measurable community impact. As a second-year team, we are incredibly proud to have earned this award at the Sundome event - a historic achievement for our community. We carried that energy into the next season, winning the Sustainability Award at the World Championship in Houston.

Four members of the Velocity Raptors Impact team holding the Sustainability Award trophy and plaque

Team Sustainability Award announced for 9450 Velocity Raptors on the World Championship broadcast — The moment Velocity Raptors 9450 were announced as winners of the Team Sustainability Award.

OUT IN THE COMMUNITY

Students at Haggen supermarket with carts full of donated food for the Shop With a Bot food drive — Shop With a Bot at Haggen - eleven full carts collected for the Maltby Food Bank.

Velocity Raptors mentor teaching an Arduino joystick and servo coding lesson to elementary students — Teaching Arduino joystick + servo code at our Woodin Elementary outreach program.

Velocity Raptors demoing the Rebuilt robot in a circle of Leota Middle School students — Robot demo at Leota Middle School - students gathered around our Rebuilt bot.

Middle school student preparing to feed a yellow ball into the Rebuilt robot during a demo — Hands-on time with the Rebuilt robot at Leota Middle School.

Middle schoolers laughing and reacting as the Rebuilt robot interacts with them during a demo — Big reactions from Leota Middle School during our Rebuilt robot demo.

Velocity Raptors inflatable T-Rex mascot leading a team member holding a 'Velocity Raptors 9450' sign at the Woodinville Celebrate parade — Woodinville Celebrate parade - T-Rex, Velocity Raptors 9450 sign, and the robot rolling through the lot.

Team driving the Crescendo robot through a parking lot past Ross with the inflatable T-Rex and a Woodinville High School Robotics Club sign — Crescendo robot demo at the Woodinville Celebrate parade, in front of the Ross shopping plaza.

Team member showing the Crescendo robot to families in a crowded parking lot at the Woodinville Celebrate parade — Sharing the Crescendo robot with families at the Woodinville Celebrate parade.

Snohomish County Adopt-A-Road Litter Control sign reading 'Velocity Raptors 9450' next to the road we maintain — Our Snohomish County Adopt-A-Road sign - Velocity Raptors 9450.

Velocity Raptors student in a hi-vis vest and hard hat picking up a glass bottle during an Adopt-A-Road cleanup — Adopt-A-Road cleanup day - picking up litter along our adopted stretch.

Velocity Raptors students helping serve at a sunflower-themed senior community lunch event — Serving and connecting with seniors at a community lunch event.

Elementary students working through a Lego motor and coding demo during a Woodin outreach lesson — Woodin Elementary outreach - Lego motor and coding lesson in progress.

Velocity Raptors students presenting at the 2025 NSD Women in STEM Conference — 2025 NSD Women in STEM Conference presentation team.

Velocity Raptors students standing with the robot and parade signs during Woodinville Celebrate in a wide parking lot shot — Woodinville Celebrate wide shot - sign, robot, team, and parade setup together.

Two students in inflatable T-Rex mascot costumes in the robotics lab — Velocity Raptors T-Rex mascots in the lab.

Velocity Raptors student presenting a 'Welcome Back' slide at a Woodin Elementary Arduino lesson — Leading a Woodin Elementary session after mid-winter break.

Velocity Raptors team photo with a state representative and the Crescendo robot in front of their graffiti display — Crescendo season team photo with a visiting state representative and our graffiti-themed display.

Velocity Raptors team with inflatable T-Rex mascot, state representative, and the Crescendo robot — Crescendo team photo with our inflatable T-Rex, the robot, and a state representative visit.

State representative smiling with Velocity Raptors students while they show off robot parts during the Crescendo season — Showing robot parts and sharing the story behind the build during a Crescendo visit.

Wide photo of the Velocity Raptors gathered around a state representative and the Crescendo robot in the school commons — State representative visit in the commons with the Crescendo robot and team presentation space.

Three Velocity Raptors students at the Wellington STEM Fair wearing team shirts and name tags — Velocity Raptors students at the Wellington STEM Fair.

Elementary students watching the Crescendo robot launch a ring during an in-season showcase — In-season Crescendo robot showcase for elementary students - ring launch in progress.

Kids reaching toward a ring at a hands-on Crescendo robot showcase — Hands-on Crescendo demo - letting students interact directly with the game piece and robot.

Elementary students gathered around the Crescendo robot during an outdoor outreach demo — Outdoor Crescendo showcase at an elementary school.

In the Community

Elder Friends

We traveled to Seattle to demo our robot for the elderly community, played bingo, and packed 72 bags of snacks for their Thanksgiving event.

Shop With a Bot

On December 13th we spent 8 hours at Haggen collecting canned goods and nonperishables, finishing the day with eleven full carts of food for the Maltby Food Bank.

Harvest Festival

For the third year in a row, we were invited to the Kirkland Harvest Festival to showcase our Reefscape robot, answer questions, and hand out candy.

Celebrate Woodinville

For the third year, we drove our robot down the streets of Woodinville in the Celebrate Woodinville parade and ran a booth answering questions about our program.

STEM Fairs

We attend elementary STEM fairs across our district with interactive robot experiences - and meet plenty of future Raptors along the way.

Elementary Programs

We run an FLL program at Woodin Elementary and an Arduino program at Wellington - roughly 135 hours per year introducing students to STEM early.

Women in STEM Conference

Our conference brings together women and underrepresented minorities in STEM. Last year a panel of 7 industry women shared their journeys, which we expanded upon this year for our second conference.

Within FIRST

Volunteering

Every member volunteered at 15 different official FIRST events across Western Washington - 120+ hours combined.

Hosting

We hosted both Lamarr League Meet 1 and Lamarr League Meet 2 at our high school for the second year running.

Girls FIRST

Our Discord and Instagram community for women and underrepresented minorities now has 150+ members across every department.

Arrowdynamics

We helped launch FRC Team 10079 from an existing FTC team. They won Rookie All-Star at a PNW district event in their first season.

Advocacy

Congresswoman Suzan DelBene

Demonstrated our Crescendo robot at a congressional event and were featured in her newsletter.

State Rep. Davina Duerr

Toured our lab and signed our pit as an honorary team member after our presentation on FIRST in schools.

School Board

Presented to the school board to bring awareness about robotics - leading to grant opportunities and an effort for an official district coaching position.

Reaching Out to Senators

Partnered with FIRST WA to email senators in our district, pushing to restore the OSPI grant for the 2026 season.

City Council

Hosted city council members in our lab, advocating for a designated robotics space in the city.