In the world of high school robotics, students do not compete on a level playing field. Project 212 hails from Ygnacio Valley and faces more challenges than most. Just over the hill from the Bay Area and Silicon Valley, four out of five students are economically disadvantaged. Experience is short and resources limited. Project 212 believes in itself though. But is grit, devoted mentors, and a teacher committed to building young leaders enough to compete against the best teams in the world?
"Project 212: Engineering the Future" follows the robotics team from Ygnacio Valley High School in Concord, which serves a predominantly low-income and under resourced community. The team is roughly 75 percent Hispanic and Filipino first-generation students. Half are female. These characteristics uniquely distinguish Project 212 from the robotics teams they compete against in California. This short film about building tomorrow's leaders showcases the power of youth mentorship and STEM education.
Goals for this social impact story included:
* Showcase how empowering access to mentors, technology, and STEM education is for underserved youth
* Increase awareness of FIRST Robotics programs and mentoring opportunities
* Demonstrate PG&E's effort to support diversifying the engineering field
Impact included:
* Highly coordinated event and digital launch with FIRST global
* Screenings at opening ceremonies of all California regional competitions
* Community screenings at Ygnacio Valley High School and PG&E HQ
* 25K+ views to target audiences
* 90% of views on Instagram were from non-PG&E followers
* Story workshop with FIRST high school media teams across the country
* Increased volunteers and youth mentors among PG&E's 25K+ employees
