Our mission is to increase opportunities for area youth to gain real-world, hands-on experience. The primary goal of FLARE (Finger Lakes Area Robotics Education) is to inspire young people to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Students will have the chance to learn and develop many new skills. They will be acquiring not only skills in engineering and design, but will also be developing leadership, business, teamwork, and communication skills. We are looking to provide these students a chance to explore potential STEM careers and gain necessary skills to become the next leaders in our community and beyond. Our robotics team, Mechanical Meltdown, is part of the NY Excelsior FIRST Tech Challenge community, which encompasses all of New York State except the 5 boroughs of NYC and Long Island. Each year, 5 or 6 out the 110+ teams in this region earn the opportunity to participate in the World Championship, which is held in Detroit, MI. Our team is honored and proud to have advanced to the Championship for each of the past 3 years!!! It’s such an extraordinary experience to attend this 5-day event with 40,000 other people from around the globe, who all have an excitement for robotics and technology! We meet in Watkins Glen, but welcome youth from the entire Finger Lakes area as long as you are able/willing to come here for practices. There are limited opportunities for the type of experience you can gain from this program & it is not uncommon for youth to travel up to an hour to participate.
