Our Outreach
How The Apes of Wrath have impacted the community
FIRST Lego League (FLL) Robotics
The Apes of Wrath are deeply committed to supporting the FIRST community. Every year, our team actively volunteers at local schools and organizations to mentor FIRST Lego League (FLL) teams. We dedicate both our time and resources to ensure the younger generation have a very rewarding and inspiring experience in the STEM field. By engaging with younger students in the joyous experience we know as robotics, we help foster the growth and continuity of the program with the love of STEM.
Two days each week, we send at least 5 team members to support local elementary schools' robotics teams. During these sessions, FLL members are given the opportunity to gain hands-on experience with LEGO robotics that are catered to the game challenges provided for the current season. Students also develop critical thinking skills and programming skills by creating their own robot from the bottom up and by writing its code to control the robots’ movement.
These experiences give the younger students the opportunity to learn about collaboration through the exposure to science and technology earlier in life, all the while Team 668 continues to develop their own collaborative abilities through their mentorship and community service to these FLL teams. This highlights the impact of how their efforts will help reach younger audiences that’ll help shape their journey and futures as young innovators.
Currently, we fund and mentor two separate FLL teams at Los Alamitos Elementary school, each team consists of 5 to 7 students with 2 to 3 mentors, who are all members of The Apes of Wrath. These teams are open to all children with no costs and no prior experience is needed. We strive to make engineering and programming accessible and fun for the younger generation, sparking curiosity and creativity in every student to ignite their love of STEM.
FLL Meetings & Competition
Photos coming soon!
Helping The Local Teams
In addition to our volunteer work for the local FLL teams, we actively participate in aiding the local FRC teams around us. We recognize that we are fortunate to have access to our multitude of machines and other various resources, meanwhile other teams may not have that same accessibility to needed resources in the field of robotics. To help tackle this issue, we open our room for their use. We also share spare parts and provide our room as a place of storage that may lack the room to store their materials. By serving as a hub for resources, we can offer help to local and international teams to access resources they need.
Furthermore our team acts as an intermediary, maintaining constant and effective communication can be difficult, so we pass along various orders to keep everything running smoothly. We also host Kickoff at our location, Pioneer High School, with 52 teams attending each year. We set the school’s performing arts center for all to sit comfortably and enjoy the kickoff video for the team, followed by distributing the Kit-of-Parts to teams, team members aiding in the process.
REBUILT 2026 Kickoff
Helping our Local Community
Beyond our volunteer work for FLL and servicing other FRC teams, our team actively participates in community service projects such as planting trees, cleaning local parks, garden maintenance, and other environmental initiatives to give back and support the well-being of our community and planet. We strongly recognize how essential it is to care for our environment, not only for the health and beauty of it, but the learning experience about the importance and impact of collective action. By engaging these projects, we aim to inspire a sense of connection to nature and the commitment to sustainability in our community, that isn’t simply limited to robotics. Together, we are building a brighter and healthier future for everyone.
Park & Trail Clean Ups
Other Outreach initiatives
Alongside our core outreach, The Apes of Wrath actively extends impact to the community that doesn't only pertain to the environment. We’ve participated and held various events such as the annual Pioneer High Schools’ club rush, making our team known and warmly welcoming all who are interested to come check us out and join. At the Reid-Hillview Airport Community day, we showcased our 24-25 season robot: Maurice, highlighting we are a community team, anyone from grades 7 to 12 are highly encouraged to join our journey. We have a tree for the annual SJ Christmas in the Park, creating ornaments with our own resources to decorate and showcase our creativity. And at the end of every season, we hold our annual open house for the community to attend, here we walk everyone through: specific aspects of robot, season highlights and our build process.
We firmly believe that STEM fields should be accessible to all, regardless of background or experience. By actively demonstrating diverse faces and talents within our team, we continue to challenge and dismantle harmful stereotypes of who ‘belongs” in STEM. Our focus demonstrates innovation and problem-solving skills thrive on various talents and backgrounds, contributing unique perspectives and skills. Through our efforts, we not only uplift future engineers and scientists, but we empower others within the community to participate and succeed with their passions and goals.
