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Overview
As Regency Robotics expanded beyond its pilot workshop, the project began receiving recognition through local media, community outreach events, and public demonstrations. These opportunities helped introduce the program to new audiences while highlighting how public libraries can provide accessible engineering education through student leadership and community partnerships.
Regional News Coverage
Tampa Bay 28 ABC News
June 2026
Following the successful expansion of Regency Robotics, Tampa Bay 28 ABC News featured the project in a regional news story highlighting the partnership with Regency Park Library and the program's impact on expanding access to STEM education.
The story showcased how a Girl Scout Gold Award project evolved into an ongoing robotics program and introduced the RAIL (Robotics Advancement in Libraries) framework to a broader regional audience.
Coverage Highlights
đź“ş Featured by Tampa Bay 28 ABC News
đź“° Regional television and online news coverage
🤝 Highlighted partnership with Regency Park Library
👩‍💻 Recognized as a student-led STEM education initiative
Community Recognition
Pasco County Schools featured Regency Robotics following the successful launch of the pilot workshop, recognizing the program's impact on expanding STEM opportunities for local students.
Pasco County Schools
April 2026
Following the successful launch of the pilot workshop, Pasco County Schools highlighted Regency Robotics on its official social media channels, recognizing the project as an innovative student-led STEM initiative serving the local community.
The post introduced the partnership with Regency Park Library and showcased how the program expands access to robotics education for elementary and middle school students through hands-on engineering activities.
Recognition Highlights
Featured by Pasco County Schools
Recognized as a student-led STEM initiative
Highlighted partnership with Regency Park Library
Promoted engineering education opportunities for local youth
Community Outreach
Community outreach has been an important part of the continued growth of Regency Robotics and the RAIL (Robotics Advancement in Libraries) framework. Beyond recurring library workshops, outreach events introduced the program to new students, families, educators, and community members while demonstrating how robotics can be used to inspire interest in engineering and problem-solving.
Each outreach opportunity also provided valuable feedback that helped refine workshop activities, improve implementation resources, and increase awareness of library-based STEM education.
Girl Scouts STEMapalooza
April 2026
STEMapalooza provided the first opportunity to present Regency Robotics outside of the library setting. Families explored robotics demonstrations, viewed the engineering design process, and learned about upcoming workshops at Regency Park Library.
An informational display included project documentation, QR codes linking to online resources, photos from the pilot workshop, and live robotics demonstrations that allowed visitors to experience the program before attending a workshop.
Ana presents the Regency Robotics project during Pasco Girl Scouts STEMapalooza, introducing families to the program's goals, engineering activities, and partnership with Regency Park Library.
Ana introduces younger Girl Scouts to robotics and engineering, encouraging curiosity, creativity, and future participation in STEM programs.
Brownie STEM Workshop
May 2026
Following the success of the pilot workshop, Regency Robotics was invited to introduce robotics and engineering concepts to a local Brownie Girl Scout troop. Students participated in age-appropriate robotics activities, explored engineering design concepts, and learned how robots solve real-world problems.
This outreach event demonstrated that the workshop model could successfully engage younger students while expanding awareness of STEM opportunities available through local public libraries.
Community Impact
Together, these outreach events expanded the reach of Regency Robotics beyond the library by introducing the program to dozens of additional students and families throughout Pasco County. The events also strengthened community partnerships, increased interest in future workshops, and helped establish Regency Robotics as a sustainable STEM education initiative that continues to grow through the RAIL framework.
These outreach events helped:
Introduce dozens of additional students and families to Regency Robotics.
Increase awareness of library-based STEM education.
Generate interest in future robotics workshops.
Strengthen partnerships between schools, libraries, and community organizations.
Leadership Recognition
FIRST Robotics Leadership Award Interview
April 2026
As part of the FIRST Robotics Leadership Award semifinalist interview process, Ana presented the Regency Robotics program to a panel of judges at the FIRST Tallahassee Regional, explaining the project's goals, engineering design process, community partnerships, and long-term vision through the RAIL (Robotics Advancement in Libraries) framework.
The interview highlighted how a student-led initiative evolved from a Girl Scout Gold Award project into a sustainable public library STEM program designed for replication by other libraries.
The presentation provided another opportunity to share the project's educational impact while demonstrating student leadership, engineering design, community engagement, and long-term project sustainability.
Ana Thomas and fellow LED Robotics member Nick Hughes at the FIRST Tallahassee Regional, where Ana highlighted the Regency Robotics initiative during her Leadership Award interview and Nick was selected as the FIRST Tallahassee Regional Leadership Award winner.
Community PartnershipsÂ
Regency Robotics continues to grow through collaboration with organizations that share a commitment to expanding STEM education.Â
Regency Park Library
Pilot library partner
Workshop host
Long-term implementation partner
LED Robotics (FRC Team 6722)
Student volunteers
Workshop mentors
Technical support
Volunteer leadership development
Girl Scouts of West Central Florida
Gold Award project sponsor
Community outreach opportunities
Leadership development
Pasco County Schools
Community recognition
Educational outreach support
Looking Ahead
Regency Robotics continues to expand through recurring library workshops, community outreach events, additional engineering activities, and refinement of the RAIL (Robotics Advancement in Libraries) implementation framework. As additional engineering activities are developed and documented, the RAIL framework will continue expanding into a complete implementation model that can be adopted by additional public libraries. Future outreach efforts will focus on building new community partnerships, expanding volunteer leadership opportunities, and increasing access to affordable STEM education.
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