Team News
December 2009 - The Leopards embraced the spirit of the season. To help bring the holidays to those less fortunate, the team packaged and delivered gifts for Toys for Tots and at risk children. For those serving our country, they sent Christmas gifts to the soldiers adopted by the team. Not to be forgotten, the leopards prepared Christmas stockings for their teachers. Continuing prep for the 2010 season, the team held safety training at their machine shop sponsor Hydraquip CSI. Some team members got a jump on the competition by participating in the VEX competition. The team also ran a demo for an Engineers Without Borders fundraiser.
November 2009 - November saw the beginning of preperations for the FIRST season. Students attended preseason classes on how to design a robot and machining cetification. The Leopards ran workshops for rookie FIRST teams and mentored FLL teams. The team also gathered doantions for toys for tots and their tool safety program.
October 2009 - The Leopards ran a school supply drive to gather materials for Kennedy, Allen, and Port Authority Elementary. They also helped renovate HSEP by creating a 21st century meeting room where student research is conducted, students can do tutorials, and faculty can hold meetings. The team also competed in the Texas BEST competition, winning an award for most robust robot.
September 2009 - During the fall many of the team members compete in the BEST competition. This also serves as recruitment for Team 57. BEST teams were assembled from new recruits and veteran members. The team also volunteered at the BEST kickoff.
August 2009 - Back to school! The Leopards ushered in the new school year by running orientation workshops for incoming freshmen. The topics of the workshops included structural & architectural engineering, robotics, hydraulics & pnuematics, and careers in engineering. They also helped out their teachers by perparing classrooms. Classrooms were cleaned, furniture was arranged, and new bulletin boards were put up.
July 2009 - The students worked hard to complete the Alternative Energy Lab. Donations were gathered to outfit the lab. New furniture and equipment were put into place. The lab opened shop on July 17th. Students from the team conducted the first experiments to be run from the new lab, building windmills and converting food scraps into biofuels.
June 2009 - The Leopards caught green fever and sought to create a lab at HSEP for green technologies. The students identified the old autoshop as the best location for the new Alternative Energy Lab. Old equipment, and furniture were removed form the shop and the entire shop was cleaned. The team also ran weekly summer engineering camps for middle schoool students, hosting kids from Edison MS and Flemming MS, among others.