Bloomfield Girls Robotics Competition

Since 2012, Team 469 has co-hosted the Bloomfield Girls Robotics Competition as an initiative to further girls’ involvement in FIRST. The goal of the competition is to encourage all girls to participate in STEM and lead the participating teams. In 2024, the 12th Bloomfield Girls Robotics Competition was held at Bloomfield Hills High School with 32 teams participating in the event.

At the event, you will see Las Guerrillas team members set up and tear down the field, volunteer on the field, and compete. By working with our co-hosts, proceeds from the event are used to award five high school senior girls $1,000 scholarships.

The event would not be possible without our co-hosts, FRC Teams 68 Truck Town Thunder and venue host 2834 Bionic Black Hawks.

FIRST Tech Challenge

In 2022, Las Guerrillas took the opportunity to organize and host an OCCRA FTC competition at the International Academy. We welcomed 10 teams to compete at the IA. Our team played may significant roles in the event, such as serving as referees, being on safety patrol, working the concession booth, and serving as overall ambassadors for our team, our school, and FIRST in Michigan.

We were touched by this experience in a variety of ways, one of which was getting a glimpse into the minds of younger students who are truly passionate about STEAM. Outside of the FRC Season, several Las Guerrillas team members mentor local FTC teams.

Be The Match

In 2023, Team 469 participated in our first annual bone marrow registry drive with Be the Match! Each year, approximately 18,000 people, ages 0-74, in just the United States alone are diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses where a bone marrow transplant or umbilical cord blood transplant (also known as BMT) from a related or non-related, matched donor is their best treatment option.

Our lead mentor, Marjie Jenkins was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer in July 2014 at the age of 31. This was on the heels of Las Guerrillas winning the World Championship for the second time. Ms. Jenkins went through a double mastectomy and 16 rounds of chemotherapy. During this time, she made many cancer friends along the way, and a few have had bone marrow transplants themselves. In October 2021, what Ms. Jenkins thought was bronchitis ended up being two liters of fluid in her lungs. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer of the left lung and bones. Since she is unable to donate herself, she decided to gather Team 469 to help recruit people who are able to donate. You never know… one day it could be you or a loved one needing The Match..