Shelley Grant has been a key figure in our robotics family since StuyPulse was founded, devoting her efforts to our team since 2000. Shelley’s goal is “to model the historic values of StuyPulse: a welcoming attitude toward others, kindness, fearlessness about trying something new, learning from one’s mistakes, and having fun together.”
Being involved as a parent, Shelley saw the passion that our students had for FIRST, which inspired her to stay with StuyPulse, even after her daughter graduated. She realized that there was a lack of non-STEM mentors and decided to step up to the challenge as a marketing and finance mentor. As a mentor, she advises us on how to remain organized and write grants, newsletters, and awards. She also helped our marketing department of 3 members expand to 20, and continues to help us grow.
Shelley plays a crucial role in our Chairman’s Award team. She guides them through the process of writing the essay and perfecting the presentation by providing vital constructive feedback for our presentations, down to the smallest detail, such as the subtle body language the presenters make in front of judges. While the presenters create the award, Shelley constantly proposes new ways to present and suggests innovative ideas. Last year, she encouraged our Chairman’s presenters to use visuals to help explain the story of our team during the NYC Regional. We ended up winning the Chairman’s Award at that regional for the first time in 13 years, largely due to our creative presentation style. Additionally, Shelley helps out our school’s FTC teams, Stuy Fission and Stuy Fusion, with their Engineering notebooks. This year, Stuy Fission won the 2nd place Inspire Award and the Think Award, qualifying them for Super-Qualifiers.
Shelley’s involvement expands far beyond our team. When Hurricane Maria hit, much of Puerto Rico’s community was devastated. Shelley immediately brainstormed ways to help rebuild their community, beginning with FLL initiatives. She reached out to Dean Kamen during the NYC Regional in 2018 and emailed him with her ideas. Inspired by her efforts, Dean put her in contact with the FIRST affiliate of Puerto Rico, Miray Ramy. Last May, Shelley visited Puerto Rico to speak with the directors of elementary schools that we could potentially mentor. Shelley’s enthusiasm inspired many of our team members to volunteer their time to mentor 5 FLL teams in Puerto Rico. Throughout the year, she has dedicated her time to keep in contact with these teams and has been working tirelessly to make sure that things run smoothly.
Shelley’s dedication to both our team and the FIRST community is something that only genuine devotion can foster. She is a strong foundation to our team, and her contribution to StuyPulse and the greater community is indispensable. Even though she doesn’t help build robots, she helps build people and inspire generations to come.
