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Hi Blog! It's been awhile! Don't worry we're back once again! We've done quite a bit this summer, but that's a story for another time! Today, we're here to talk about one of our favorite events—girlPOWER! For those that don’t know girlPOWER is an annual offseason event we run, POWER stands for Preparing Outstanding Women Engineers through Robotics. What makes this competition so unique is the drive teams are required to be made 100% of women! This event helps encourage girls to get more involved on their team and give them a chance to show off their skills! Like always, this year was so much fun and a huge success! First, we would like to thank our sponsor Penn Community Bank for making this event possible and to all the volunteers who made the day so special! This year we got to watch girls from 15 teams have the chance to POWER UP once again! Experienced and new girls all got the amazing chance to try and drive their robot (some for the very first time ever!). “GirlPOWER is an amazing event because it gives a whole new set opportunities to team members who normally would not get the chance to drive or be in the pit.” Though many girls are often slightly timid to drive their robot for the first time, the President of the Firebirds, Kate, said it best herself, “Through these opportunities, girls are able to become more confident both within their teams and within FRC as a whole.” The experience level doesn’t matter but the chance for these girls to put themselves out there is the most important part. Not only do girls get to drive their own robot, they sometimes get the chance to help with others! Our drive team leader, Bridget, was actually able to coach Team 423 during some of their matches. When asked about the experience she said, “This year I especially loved girlPOWER because I got the chance to coach 423 Simple Machines. Doing this gave me the opportunity to see first hand how all girl drive teams really benefit girls interested in becoming a part of robotics, but might not get the chance to do so with male mentors and a team in which the majority members are boys.” GirlPOWER also fosters friendships between teams and emphasizes the Gracious Professionalism in FRC, 433 drive team member, Gabbi said, “Another part that I love is the camaraderie among teams. Everyone cheers on the other teams and i am so happy to be apart of a wonderful community.” This event is designed to introduce the public to robotics as well. Many members from our community and all around come to girlPOWER as their first introduction to FIRST and FRC. Though confusing for some at first, the community of amazing FRC families are always willing to sit down and explain what is happening to each other. To see the growth of such an amazing program is always an extra perk of hosting this event. Congrats to all the teams for doing amazing this year, as well as all the girls who put themselves out there to try something new. We hoped all that could attend had an amazing time and we hope to see you next year! And don’t forget to POOOOOOWER UP! P.S. CHECK OUT OUR GIRLPOWER 2018 VLOG (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hJoGam8lsg) Follow Us on Social Media! Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5IQluJKZTs1HG3n6yprTGg Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firebirds43... Twitter: https://twitter.com/firebirds433 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/firebirds433/ Snapchat: firebirds433  New girlPOWER logo! 
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