Laura Masbruch

Whitewater High School is the only school in Walworth County and the Rock Valley Athletic Conference with a FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) team. Ferradermis, FRC Team #6574, is seeking to build a sustainable and long-term funding solution and is reaching out to the community for assistance. The mission of Ferradermis is to prepare members for STEM and business careers, while challenging and inspiring them as students. Ferradermis also aims to build leadership skills, communication skills, and professionalism. The team has found a great deal of success in competition over the years, ranking statistically in the top 17% of 3,323 teams in the world for the 2023 season. However, the cost-intensive nature of robotics necessitates external funding beyond existing support.

Budgeting for Robotics

The team’s annual budget target is $64,000, which covers essential expenses and allows for participation in local and regional competitions. If the team qualifies for world championships as demonstrated in 2018 and 2019, the team needs to collect an additional $25,000 in as little as two weeks. While these numbers are high, the team has worked hard every year to collect donations and build long term relationships with sponsors. 

The Whitewater Unified School District recently began contributing $14,000 yearly, a funding level similar to that of an athletic team. Unfortunately, other funding sources vary every year and are not guaranteed. Typically, students author and apply for competitive grants that account for about $12,000. An additional $24,000 is sourced from businesses, individuals, and organizations. Students, families, and mentors contribute another $10,000, while fundraising events raise an extra $4,000.

Where do the Funds Go?

Ferradermis’s annual expenses primarily center on competition-related costs, including travel, accommodations, registration fees, and materials for building a new robot each year. The team is committed to ensuring that no student is barred from participation due to financial constraints, offering scholarships to those in need. However, this has led to an increasing fundraising burden as more students and families require support each year.

In addition to the high school program, in 2018 Ferradermis member Bennett Miles initiated the first FIRST Lego League (FLL) team at Lincoln Elementary School. FLL has since expanded across all district elementary schools and the middle school, guided by Val Troxel, Chris Nate, Sara Brautigam, Lisa Kaminski, and Kerry Ramsden. Ferradermis remains involved by providing student mentors, raising funds for LEGO Spike Prime robots, and chartering buses for FLL members to observe the high school team’s Wisconsin Regional competition in Milwaukee.

The Ferradermis Fund

Recognizing the need for a more sustainable funding solution, Ferradermis has been collaborating with alumni Michael Borglin (WHS class of 2008) and Tim Walsh (WHS class of 2006). Both are computer science graduates and former students of Ferradermis Advisor Laura Masbruch at Whitewater High School. Now residing in California and working in technology, the two are using their unique skill sets to support Ferradermis. Borglin established the Borglin Family Foundation in 2021 and launched the Ferradermis Fund under the Whitewater Community Foundation soon after. The aim is to establish a $500,000 endowment (Ferradermis Fund), enabling the team to draw up to $25,000 annually from the fund’s interest indefinitely. Achieving this ambitious target requires involvement from the community and other alumni. The Borglin Family Foundation has pledged $70,000 over five years and has been matched by another anonymous alumni (WHS class of 2006). Borglin stated, “I always felt that learning by doing was the best way to learn, and that is why I support the Ferradermis team.”

Community Partnerships

In addition to hosting the Ferradermis Fund, the Whitewater Community Foundation has given Ferradermis access to manage its Google Ad Grant. This grant, available to nonprofits, provides $10,000 in ad credits each month that groups can use to draw attention to their programs. Walsh’s expertise in Google marketing guides the grant’s utilization. Additionally, a partnership with the Whitewater Advertising Association at UW-Whitewater is providing an advertising internship opportunity, contributing to the team’s growth and visibility while deepening community ties.

Why Ferradermis is Important to Whitewater and the Students

Ferradermis functions as a student operated small business. The overall team is divided into sub teams, half of which focus on business and outreach, while the other half focus on designing and building a robot. All students work under the guidance of a wide variety of volunteer adult mentors – programmers, metal workers, engineers, businesspeople, and more – building a network of professional contacts. These professional contacts support students in their future education and beyond to their careers.

Each year, The FRC game is revealed in January. At that point, the team must start from scratch to plan, design, build, wire, program, and test a brand-new robot in eight weeks before taking the competition field. This tight timeframe helps students develop time management skills.

FIRST focuses heavily on the concept of Gracious Professionalism, encouraging all teams to work together to make each other the best that they can be. Students develop many soft skills through FIRST as they interact, communicate, and build relationships with other teams from around the world as well as with their sponsors. Team members regularly practice public speaking for sponsors, judges, and community groups.

Outreach and the promotion of STEM education are valued heavily by FIRST. You will often find Ferradermis at other schools, the public library, and community events demonstrating the robot and giving younger students a chance at the controls. Ferradermis also values its relationship with the technology and engineering program at Whitewater High School, working with staff members to purchase new equipment and arrange the donation of used equipment, all in an effort to improve the shop for both WHS students in tech ed courses and the team.

Ferradermis is active and still growing. Thirty-two WHS graduates from the classes of 2021 and 2022 participated on the team for at least one season. Of these students, 68% are pursuing STEM fields with 38% studying engineering. Two from this group have already returned as mentors. 

How to Donate

To support Ferradermis, donations can be made to the Ferradermis Fund through the Whitewater Community Foundation’s website or by contacting Bonnie Miller at info@whitewatercommunityfoundation.org. Those interested in learning more about Ferradermis or robotics within the Whitewater Unified School District can contact ferradermis@gmail.com, visit www.ferradermis.org, or call 262-472-8159.

Article Submitted by Michael Borglin and Laura Masbruch
Photos Courtesy of Laura Masbruch and Rich Grosse
lmasbruch@wwusd.org

The Whitewater Cross Country teams are conducting their annual water softener salt fundraiser and would like you to be a buyer! The CC athletes will stack your order wherever you see fit, including your basement provided you are home during our delivery window and request that level of service. 

There is a two bag minimum order required and orders are due on Wednesday, August 30th. All orders must be prepaid. Delivery will take place on Friday, September 8th from 3:30-6:00 p.m. Use this link to access the flyer.

Thank you to Dalee Water Conditioning for supplying the salt for this year’s fundraiser!

Place an order with any member of the CC team or email Coach Chad Carstens at ccarstens@wwusd.org

Ferradermis was one of 21 robots from Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan that competed at the Mukwonago Robotics Off-Season Competition (MROC) on Friday and Saturday, July 28-29 at Mukwonago High School. The team finished the two-day event as the Captain of the Finalist (2^nd place) Alliance and the Judges’ Award Winner.

Friday’s events began with a series of morning workshops on topics of interest to students with varying roles on their FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) teams. The Ferradermis programmers focused on the topics of using vision to track AprilTags and the use of debugging tools. The electro-mechanical team members attended workshops on strategic design and effective prototyping, while the competition logistics team members learned more about scouting tools. Members who work on the administrative side of the team gathered fundraising ideas, learned about team branding, and heard ideas on how to best advocate for robotics funding. Various team leaders also attended a leadership workshop led by the Director of FIRST Wisconsin, and on Saturday morning, most of the team was able to attend a workshop on structuring team workflow.

The host team for many off-season FRC events will incorporate an aspect of community service into the event. This weekend, the host Mukwonago Bears ran a school supply donation drive, and Ferradermis families were happy to contribute three backpacks stuffed with various school supplies.

Qualification matches began after lunch on Friday, with each team scheduled for a total of 10 matches before playoff alliance selections at noon on Saturday. After 6 matches on Friday, the team compiled a record of 4-1-1 and was ranked #2. Rankings are based not only on wins but also on other tasks completed during matches.

Before heading home on Friday, team members took part in a team social which included options for indoor soccer, dodgeball, and other yard games, allowing students from various teams to get to know each other better. A large focus of FRC is “Gracious Professionalism” which encourages teams to work together to make every team and every robot the best they can be. Relationship-building with other teams is a key element.

Ferradermis (#6574) played their final 4 qualification matches on Saturday morning, going 3-1, and maintaining their #2 ranking behind host Mukwonago. Ferradermis’ final qualification match record was 7-2-1.

As the Captain of the #2 seeded playoff alliance, Ferradermis first invited Team #1714 MORE Robotics from St. Thomas More High School in Milwaukee to join their alliance. Despite being ranked #9 at MROC after receiving a red card which resulted in a match disqualification, the scout team had a lot of confidence in the MORE robot as it had won both the Lake Superior and Wisconsin Regionals during the regular season. To fill out the alliance, Ferradermis invited Team #2062 CORE, a combined team from all the Waukesha high schools that was ranked low after missing quite a few qualification matches but whose robot could successfully complement the tasks that the other two robots could complete during the period at the beginning of each match when the robots operate autonomously.

As this is a double-elimination tournament, the Ferradermis alliance faced off against the #1 seeded alliance after working their way through the rest of the upper bracket, falling 153-142 in a hard-fought match which dropped the Whitewater High School team into the lower bracket. The alliance then set the unpenalized high score for the event, scoring 172 points in the last match in the lower bracket before moving on to the finals.

In the finals, the Ferradermis-led alliance again faced the #1 seeded alliance led by host Mukwonago. Team #930 from Mukwonago High School is considered the best team in the state and is ranked #10 in the world out of 3,381 FRC teams by the Statbotics website which tracks the results of all events worldwide. Mukwonago’s first pick for their alliance was Team #3538 The RoboJackets from Rochester, Michigan, who are currently ranked #7 in the world by Statbotics. Interestingly, Dilpreet Randhawa who served as a Ferradermis coach and mentor for the last seven years is now living and working in Michigan and was at the event as a mentor for 3538. Due to a medical emergency, Dilpreet stepped back into his role as Drive Coach for Ferradermis at MROC, demonstrating 3538’s gracious professionalism. Ferradermis fell in the best-of-three finals 167-124 and 179-102, bringing home the title of Finalist Alliance Captain.

During regular season events, teams of judges roam the pits, interviewing students from each team to determine a variety of awards. MROC implemented this system at their event, presenting three awards. Ferradermis was the recipient of the Judges’ Award for their work promoting STEM in the Whitewater community.

Ferradermis members participating in the event included Class of 2023 alumni Daniel Portwine, Jazmin Cederberg, and Mel Prince, incoming seniors Cosette Wildermuth-Breitzman and Ghati Binagi, incoming juniors Andrew O’Toole, Maddi LaHaie, Emerson Dunham, Zoe Olson, Luc Pomazak, and Andrew Zimmermann, incoming sophomores Ace Hudec, Erison Dreksler, Rae Breisath, Chacha Binagi, Margaret Brown, and Elora Wildermuth-Breitzman, and incoming freshmen Ian Kowalkiewicz and Toby Kapfer.

Ferradermis will be taking a break from large group activities for a few weeks, allowing the 2023-2024 leadership team to make plans for onboarding additional new members in September. However, you can still catch team representatives demonstrating the robot at the Whitewater City Market on August 8 and 22 (weather permitting). There will be a parent meeting for new and veteran members on Wednesday, October 4 at 7:00 p.m. in the high school library.

Article and Photos Submitted by Laura Masbruch
Whitewater High School Robotics Advisor and Banner Volunteer
lmasbruch@wwusd.org

A dozen members of Ferradermis traveled to Rockford, Illinois on Saturday, July 22 to compete with 30 robots from Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, and Wisconsin at the Rock River Robotics Offseason Competition (R2OC) at Rock Valley College. This was an opportunity for the team to work with many other teams that they had never encountered in competition before.

The team was led onto the field by Driver Andrew O’Toole, Operator Ace Hudec, Human Player Erison Dreksler, Technicians Chacha Binagi and Rae Breisath, and Drive Coach Jacob Lee. Other team members worked together to scout robots and prepare for matches and alliance selections including Emerson Dunham, Zoe Olson, and Andrew Zimmermann. Margaret Brown took on the job of filming each match for the Drive Team to analyze and use to adjust strategy between matches. Administrative Team members Maddi LaHaie and Ghati Binagi took care of our team’s donation to the event’s collection of toiletries and canned food for the Rockford Rescue Mission. We were also joined by Class of 2023 alum Mel Prince and mentors Rob Prager, Mark Zimmermann, and Rich Grosse, along with several parents who helped lead the cheers from the stands.

Ferradermis went 3-2 in their five qualification matches, but they earned enough ranking points to be ranked 8^th out of 30 teams at the end of quals. Ranking points not only come from wins but from other tasks the robots perform while on the field. According to stats on The Blue Alliance website, Ferradermis was ranked 4^th overall in scoring during the autonomous period, 4^th overall in scoring during the tele-op period, and 2^nd overall in scoring during the end game, placing them high on other teams’ lists for alliance selections.

Although they were already in the position of being the #8 alliance captain during alliance selections, Ferradermis was the first pick of the #4 alliance captain, Team 3061 Huskie Robotics from Naperville North High School in Naperville, Illinois and gladly accepted their invitation to move to the higher ranked alliance. 6574 and 3061 then invited Team 648 QC ELITE Flaming Squirrels, a community team from the Quad Cities in Iowa as their next pick. The four-team alliance was finalized when the group added Team 967 Iron Lions from Linn-Mar High School in Marion, Iowa to their team. Normally alliances only consist of three teams, but in certain events a fourth robot is added as a backup.

The alliance’s playoff run did not last long as 6574 struggled with an electrical issue in the first match that left their bot unable to drive, and the bot belonging to our captain 3061 quickly tipped over in the second match of the double elimination tournament. The team spent the remainder of the day cheering on PWNAGE, an historically successful community-based team from St. Charles, Illinois, that will be disbanding after this event due to the loss of their sole sponsor, who also housed the team’s workspace, after the company was sold. Teams in FIRST Robotics are either considered school-based or community-based, and listening to this team’s story made Ferradermis even that much more grateful for the broad support they receive from their multitude of sponsors in the Whitewater community as well as the school district.

If you’d like to learn more about Ferradermis, the team will have the robot at the Whitewater City Market on July 25, August 8, and August 22 (weather permitting). They will also be in action at Mukwonago High School on Friday, July 28 from 2:00 – 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, July 29 from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. for MROC, the Mukwonago Robotics Offseason Competition. This event is free and open to the public. Additional new members will be accepted at the start of the school year. Incoming freshmen will have the opportunity to sign up at the Activities Fair on the first day of school. Other interested students should reach out to a current team member or to advisor Laura Masbruch. There will be a mandatory parent meeting for all participants on Wednesday, October 4, at 7:00 p.m. in the high school library. The team will have one more offseason competition this fall with the current robot before beginning to build a brand new robot for a totally different game when it is revealed in January.

Article Submitted by Laura Masbruch
Whitewater High School Robotics Advisor and Banner Volunteer
lmasbruch@wwusd.org
Action Photos Courtesy of Rich Grosse

Class of 2023 WHS and Ferradermis Alum Daniel (Peter) Portwine spent three days in Washington DC for the National Advocacy Conference sponsored by SASA (Student Association for STEM Advocacy).

On Tuesday, Daniel was able to meet with staffers for Senator Tammy Baldwin, Senator Ron Johnson, and Representative Scott Fitzgerald to discuss the importance of STEM education.

Daniel has been passionate about the impact of the FIRST Robotics program on students for a long time, but a new fire was kindled when he was one of five Ferradermis members to participate in the Wisconsin Advocacy Day at the State Capitol in February.

More information on the conference can be found at https://mysasa.org/national-advocacy-conference.

Article Submitted by Laura Masbruch
Whitewater High School Robotics Advisor and Banner Volunteer
lmasbruch@wwusd.org
Photos Courtesy of Daniel Portwine

About half of the members of Ferradermis, including two brand new members who have joined this summer, were able to travel to Dousman on Saturday, June 24, for the Laser Lights Off-Season Event sponsored by FRC Team #2077 Laser Robotics from Kettle Moraine High School.

The team had a very successful day and was the first pick in alliance selections when we were asked to join the #1 ranked team, FRC Team #930 the Mukwonago Bears from Mukwonago High School for the playoffs. Mukwonago and Ferradermis later added the host team from Laser as the third member of their alliance. The alliance made a great run through the playoffs before being knocked out by the eventual champion, the second-seeded alliance led by FRC Team #6421 the Warriorbots from Muskego High School, in the semi-finals. Ferradermis officially finished as part of the 3rd place alliance.

In addition to competing, Ferradermis also operated the concession stand for the event as a team fundraiser.

Watch for the team (weather permitting) in the Whitewater Fourth of July Parade and at the Whitewater City Market on July 11 if you’d like to learn more. The team will next be in competition in Rockford, Illinois on Saturday, July 22 before wrapping up the summer off-season at Mukwonago on July 28 and 29.

The team, which is open to any Whitewater High School student, will continue to accept new members this summer and throughout the fall. If interested in joining, please reach out to Laura Masbruch at lmasbruch@wwusd.org.

Article and Photos Submitted by Laura Masbruch
Whitewater High School Robotics Advisor and Banner Volunteer
lmasbruch@wwusd.org