Send our kids to the FIRST robotics WORLD Championships

Hello Belleville, Van Buren, and Sumpter communities,

My name is Aaron Lang and I am one of the coaches for the Belleville High School Robotics team; Team 6615 - The Bellevillains. Don't let the name fool you....We're the bad guys you want to root for! Over this past weekend, something unexpected and amazing happened, we ended up winning the District Championship at Saginaw Valley State University on the DTE field and then turning around being the runner up for the State Championship. Through the many struggles, failures, and setbacks that this team has had over the years, the jubilation and euphoria that the kids felt in their moments of victory trumped all of their past feeling.

While this success is greatly welcomed, we are now stuck in a pickle. We have to get the team, the mentors, the tools, and the robot down to Houston, Texas for the World Championships....and we only have a short window to get this done. The World Championship is less than 10 days away. This is an experience of a lifetime for these kids. Van Buren Public Schools is committed to helping us get down there with covering the entry fees, and transportation of the robot and tools. Obviously the rest of the funding comes down to the kids and I would like to support them as best we can. Each kid that wants to go on the trip would cost them about $2000 for Flight, lodging, food, and transportation for the week in Houston. Any and all donations that that are raised here will go to help bring down the cost for our kids to go.

This is an amazing program that has helped serve our kids over the last 7 years. In that time, I have had students tell me that robotics was their safe place. I have had students tell me that they didn't plan on graduating until joining robotics. I have had students tell me that they never felt accepted until they joined the team. I have had students tell me college wasn't an option until robotics. The impact on this program is felt far and wide with this community. Remember that this is not just about kids building robots.....Its about using robots to build kids!