N.E.R.D. Spark - 9312 (Albion & Canton)

The purpose of the NERD Spark Robotics Team is to promote students' interest in math, science, manufacturing and engineering. The training allows young minds to thrive and excel in our increasingly technological environment and global economy.

Our head coach, Coach Elmer has coached many teams in the past from different locations: Albion and Canton. He merged two communities over an hour apart, both coming from very different backgrounds and communities, into a single team, to form NERD Spark.

Using both virtual and in-person meetings, we collaborate together to create and execute a design process. Both sides of the team have programmers and builders/designer's that work together to create an amazing robot.

Participating in FRC gives us the opportunity to learn valuable skills such as designing, building, programming, and team building. Being a part of this team opens up opportunities for scholarships and internships in STEM fields, as well as allowing us to make a positive impact in our communities by getting to know new people, organizing events, and collaborating with others.

NERD Spark wants to help everyone in the community be successful and excited about STEM. We are spreading FIRST and STEM in our community through many different outreach events including international outreach events designed to educate underprivileged minorities, summer sessions at home for introducing CAD and Programming to 5th thru 12th graders, and volunteering at Innovate Albion’s free STEM Saturdays event every 3rd Saturday of the month where we teach students about engineering, programming, and robotics. All of these events are designed to give students exposure to engineering and programming. Every team member on NERD Spark is very dedicated to achieving our goal of spreading FIRST and STEM throughout our community.

Thank you for your financial support this season and cheering us on. We were able to qualify for Worlds and we won the Johnson division, making it to Einstein’s. We couldn’t have done it without your generous donations. We will continue to work towards getting back to Einstein’s next season and improve ourselves as a team as well as continue with STEM Saturdays and spreading our love for robotics across our communities. Thank you for your continued support!

www.nerdspark.org