Atlas Family and the First Lego League Atlas has established a foundation to attract the best talent within the technology industry as well to focus on the continual growth of its employees. In addition, Atlas has infused community involvement into its corporate culture encouraging employees and their families to contribute of their time and resources to make an impact on the communities that we serve. We feel that our employees’ interaction with the First Lego League (FLL) accomplishes all three of these objectives seamlessly! We are proud to say that two of our employees have a student participating in the First Lego League this year fostering a healthy interest in technology at an early age. Atlas is excited to see young people take an interest in technology and especially so because they are females in what appears to be a male dominated industry. We had a chance to catch up with Kelly and Cynthia to get the scoop on how the girls are doing in the program. Kelly describes the FLL as a group of children of the same age range working together as a team. She says that they learn to value each other’s opinion, achieve a mission and compete against other teams. Kelly’s daughter expressed interest in the Lego League and, of course, Kelly and her husband, Jeff, encouraged that passion. You can see Jeff in the photos assisting Brianna in some of the interactive activities the team does at their weekly meetings. Kelly says that not only is Brianna learning some great technical skills that she can use in the future, she is also gaining team building and social skills that she may not have received in a normal classroom setting. She also mentioned that Brianna was a little shy and she can see now how being a part of this team has helped her confidence and social interaction with other children. For their team projects, they must practice researching, interviewing subject matter experts, writing and even public speaking… all skills Brianna can use far beyond her elementary school years. The ultimate goal of the team is to build a robotics project based on a particular theme and to present their final product at a local and then state-wide competition. The youngest of the bunch, this is Brianna’s first year on the team. We can only hope that her passion for math and science will translate into a productive career in the technology industry. Cynthia’s family has been working with the Lego League for a few years. She’s even had two daughters participate in the league at one time. Cynthia concurs all of the skills that they gain from being a part of the league are valuable to the children no matter what career they choose later in life. She mentioned that being a part of the league helps to build the children’s confidence and gives them the tools to be a graceful professional which is one of the core values of the league. Kylie’s natural ability is in math and science. At 12 years old, she already knows that she wants to go to the University of South Carolina and enroll in their engineering program. Cynthia says that there is a huge push in elementary schools to get more girls involved in LEGOS Clubs and in STEM related activities. We are happy to see that Kylie is up for the challenge and we applaud Cynthia and Dave for being leaders of this movement. Cynthia’s team won state level last year and scored the #2 spot in the projects category. Both teams have gone on to earn a Golden Ticket at their respective Regional Qualifier this year, and will be competing at the State Level Saturday, March 7, 2015 at Summerville High School! We are proud of these young ladies for their tenacity at such a young age and commend their parents for their valuable roles in the girls’ development. We wish them continued success! Perhaps, one day, they can bring their sharpened talents to Atlas and continue the legacy!
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 02:18:40 +0000