During the month of June, 2023, the members of the Villanova Wiredcats visited the John McGivney Children's Centre to engage in STEM activities with the children. The John McGivney Children's Centre is a school that focuses on providing opportunities for children with disabilities through guided and personal care to help their abilities grow. The members brought Lego pieces to allow the children to flex their creativity muscles, ramps to allow the children to race Lego cars, Lego Mindstorms EV3 kits to introduce them to Lego robotics, and Caution the Cat for the children to drive around and complete different challenges. The children were very appreciative and absolutely loved playing with the Lego and seeing robotics at work, and the Wiredcats were so happy to have the opportunity to spend some time with these children and introduce them to the wonderful world of robotics. The Wiredcats were happy to teach and introduce these children to STEM in a fun and captivating way, something that our team always strives to do. The student outreach was incredibly impactful for everyone involved and the Wiredcats look forward to visiting again soon! 

Students who attend Villanova STEM feeder schools were given an opportunity to design a button for the 2023 FRC season! We received almost 300 submissions from dedicated students who wanted to share their designs for a potential button. Along with the design contest, each sheet asked the students the question: "What do you think you can learn from building with Legos?" The students were challenged to really think deep about the simple, yet expansive, building block toy. The papers also had valuable information about this year's season and introduced the students to the concepts of STEM. The winner of the challenge received a certificate congratulating them for winning the challenge. Buttons were made of their design for everyone in their class. Buttons were also made and distributed to every team that the Wiredcats competed against during their competitions throughout the season. We hope that involving students in our team outreach will encourage them to think about the world of STEM as they get older.