Rebuilt - 2026
Written By: Impact Team
Even the smallest pawprints leave a mark. 18 yrs ago, 3061 began with 5 Huskies; today we are 120+, united to uplift FIRST, our team, & community. We measure success not by awards, but by a question: How do you design a system where thousands of pups believe they belong in STEM & are empowered to build that place for others?
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Our work centers on answering that question by leaving intentional pawprints—not isolated steps, but trails others can follow.
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Our Huskie Pack
Strong paws come from a strong pack. We are a student-led, mid-sized engineering org. spanning both D203 high schools—12 subteams, 11+ classrooms, 25 hrs/week—structured for community, drive, & impact.
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We help rookies advance their STEM journey thru subteam rotation, shadowing veterans, & guided training. Leads delegate tasks so every Huskie contributes from day 1. Traditions like sticker nominations, bonding events, & team dinners build family.
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5 captains anchor Business, Robot, & Strategy. 76 students applied for 24 leadership roles this yr (~30% increase since 2023), reflecting a culture of servant leadership. Subteam Leads are chosen for skill & mentorship. Roles evolve annually, including our new Advocacy Lead & Open Alliance Coordinator.
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Unity drives success. Dinner stand-ups, weekly SCRUM planning, EDGE (Explain, Demonstrate, Guide, Enable), & FMECA (Failure Modes, Effects, & Criticality Analysis) keep work organized. Documentation of turnout, feedback, best practices, & Keep-Fix-Tries preserve knowledge so progress compounds.
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As a result, in 3 yrs, Huskies dedicated 5300 outreach hrs across 64 student events, reaching 22.3k people, averaging 12 hrs/member last year. As Feature Project Manager Anish shares, “Leading events allowed me to explore STEM while spreading my love for FIRST throughout my local community.”
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Huskie FURever Impact
Pawprints leave a mark beyond graduation. 16+ alumni serve as FRC mentors/volunteers, with 6 Dean’s List Finalists & 2 Winners. In the past 3 yrs, 90% of alumni stayed all 4 yrs. Many contribute to areas like antimatter research & cloud computing. Alumni credit 3061 for launching their STEM careers from aerospace to biomedical; unlocking internships, scholarships, & leadership roles. As alum Matthew reflects, “I have had internships at DMG Mori, where my experience from manufacturing parts for Huskie Robotics was the main reason I got the job, as well as G&W Electric.”
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Guided by 20+ mentors (1 per 6 students), 60% of returning Huskies cite mentorship as a reason they stay. Mentors don’t direct outcomes: they guide reflection, experiments, & learning from setbacks while giving students hands-on experience with professional tools. The result? A robot built entirely by students. Per mentor John Schulz, “The robot is the product of the system—the development of engineers is the purpose.” Mentors stay an average of 6 years, staying connected online even after stepping away, including 7-year mentor Jessie Lee, who continues mentoring virtually from Boston, exemplifying impact.
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The PAWth to STEM for Everyone
At 3061, inclusivity defines our pawprints. Our Red Chair Videos thru NCWIT’s Sit With Me Campaign documented 71 women’s STEM journeys in the past 3 yrs, including 23 at this past Champs—featuring female members, alumni, mentors, & FLL pups, amplifying & inspiring female voices in STEM. At TWIST, our all-female drive & pit teams empower girls in male-dominated spaces. The m.e. FIRST initiative distributes women’s sanitation products at competition bathrooms, fostering inclusive spaces. Our efforts are reflected in our 47 female members & 52% female leadership.
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Thru UW’s HuskyADAPT initiative, we modify children’s toys like trains & dancing animals to aid motor-skill development in D203 special needs classrooms. Our electrical subteam swaps tricky switches for easy-to-press buttons—just push! Built from feedback, we provided 35 revised toys to special-needs classrooms, with positive reflections from all teachers: one reflected, “This is just an amazing project! The students who use the toys can be more involved with their peers during our leisure time.”
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Inspiring the FUR-ture
Pups build on our pawprints. We inspire the next generation of STEM leaders thru a sustainable K-12 pipeline connecting classrooms to real-world engineering thru FIRST. After nearly doubling FLL teams, we’ve sustained all 41 for 3 years, furthered by a 5-year, $477k Naperville Education Foundation (NEF) grant. Each summer, our impact begins with a district-wide FLL camp led by Huskies for 100+ pups, many new to FIRST. We then host a Professional Dev Workshop for 39 FLL coaches, equipping them with FLL methods & practices. LEGO Educator Steven Weniger noted, “The [3061] student leaders demonstrated remarkable knowledge of the FLL rules & expectations, providing invaluable insights that will empower all coaches.”
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Student mentors dedicated 1500+ hours supporting 41 FLL teams & 419 students across three seasons—building technical skills, fostering confidence to overcome challenges, & forming lasting Huskie-pup bonds. Many pups look to Huskies as role models, finding their path in STEM. Huskies run 2 FLL comps yearly, drawing 920 statewide participants & strengthening FIRST infrastructure across IL.
Growing to become STEM leaders from elementary school & beyond, 50%+ FLL pups join 3061. The results: 70% of members are more inclined toward STEM careers; 66% plan STEM majors (+20% growth in interest). As rookie Sarrah reflects, “FLL sparked my passion for robotics. After seeing Team 3061 mentor my team, joining Huskie Robotics felt like the natural next step”. As a next step, we propose a FIRST Robotics Engineering capstone course that fosters advanced research & projects, expanding FIRST’s impact district-wide.
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Tracks of Impact
Huskies empower teams to create their own pawprints. We mentor Roaring Robotics, 1 of 4 community teams in IL, inviting them to meetings & presentations, sharing best practices, & providing equipment. We’ve hosted teams like Titan Robotics (Aurora, IL), Robovikes (California), & Hanabi (Japan), providing workspace & batteries. This year, we’re contacting intl. teams to host as well as working with teams like ORBIT (Israel) on software development.
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Over 3 yrs, SPOT—our fully customizable, open-source, modular scouting app—has streamlined scouting for 25+ teams thru updates & troubleshooting, enhancing efficiency. Cache Money said, “[SPOT] is absolutely amazing. Our scouters found it simple & intuitive.”
3061-lib, our swerve-drive code library, supports 16 teams. Thru Open Alliance, we share successes & failures, posting regular updates; in 3 years, our 31.k views across 108 posts accelerate collective learning.
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Positive PAWtnerships
We sustain our FIRST trail thru 20+ PAWtnerships. Thru long relationships with orgs like Scouts BSA (11 years) & the Alive Center (9 years), we embed robotics into their events, while growing our network with new events like STEMCon & GEMSFair. Our result: 64 events over 3 yrs that grew FIRST accessibility to thousands in Naperville & earned repeated news coverage, reflecting sustained public engagement with 3061 & FIRST. As
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18 corporate sponsors fuel our pack. Thru partners like Molex (11 yrs) & Prismier (7 yrs), we integrate FIRST into local resources & opportunities. Past Kit of Parts, Molex recently commissioned a plexiglass chassis to display their product ecosystem, entrusting us to represent their capabilities. Their engineers regularly mentor our electrical subteam, fostering collaboration. With 10 new local partnerships, we’ve deepened community impact. Students lead stakeholder updates, tours, & sponsor media; gaining practical experience & inspiring long-term relations. Most pitches are student-led: when Linear’s subscription proved prohibitive, Project Manager Jai Gupta reached out directly to the CEO, securing a lifetime subscription, turning a barrier into a long-term resource.
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Trailblazing Tails
Our pawprints start paths with new initiatives. Forming the advocacy subteam this year, after drafting a bill we aim to collaborate with Illinois FIRST to pass legislation recognizing FIRST as a CTSO: The first step to securing direct funding for schools to start & sustain FRC teams in IL. Currently, we are spearheading outreach efforts statewide by advocating to federal & state legislators like Laura Ellman & Janet Yang Rohr, & 3 others; inviting them to outreach events to gain insight on the value of FIRST. We are working with teams like 2338 to develop a unified advocacy package: documents on contacting legislators, aligned messaging, & strengthening collective readiness ahead of a future bill introduction.
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We formed a collab. triangle with 111 & 2338 this year. Using the long-standing expertise & resources of 3 big IL teams, we aim to lower barriers to FRC in IL thru regional support tables, bi-weekly Q&A livestreams, open workshops, scrimmages, & joint advocacy efforts. Our long-term vision is to become a statewide ecosystem that supports new teams, expands access, & reinforces the future of FIRST IL.
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Our pawprints lead from workshop to workforce. Thru FIRST Futures, we bridge the FRC & industry gap by helping students turn FIRST skills into resumes, applications, & career pathways. Planning to connect them with professionals, we aim to sustain STEM engagement despite local barriers, strengthening FIRST’s long-term impact – leaving a clear trail others can follow.
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The Huskie spirit isn’t about finishing 1st—it’s about those we bring with us. After 18 yrs of pawprints, our responsibility is to widen the trail so others can walk the STEM path more easily in our broader community. New paths exist because we chose to leave a pawprint, & every effort is another step toward empowering & sustaining the future of STEM. That is what impact is to us. That is our answer to our question. That, is our story.