The saga began during the mid-summer of 2006. Kevin Renfrow, Newport High School class of 2007, was employed at Hewlett-Packard, Co. in Corvallis, OR as an intern in the Apprenticeships in Science and Engineering program. One summer day, Kevin and his HP mentor began talking about Newport High School and its extracurricular activites. It became obvious to both parties that Newport High School lacked a program oriented for students to pursue engineering. Suddenly it clicked.
Since before the 2005-2006 school year, a small number of students at Newport High School had attempted to create a Robotics club; however, for varying reasons, the plan was unsuccessful. Recalling this plan, Kevin mentioned the Robotics idea to his mentor. Immediately she suggested the FIRST program and explained the success that the high school FIRST teams in the Corvallis area have had.
A meeting between Kevin and Al Bailey of the Corvallis High School FIRST team was immediately arranged. After attending several team meetings, Kevin realized that FIRST was exactly what the students at Newport High needed.
After returning from the summer, Kevin spoke with math and science instructor, Brian Hanna. Mr. Hanna agreed to co-mentor the new team with Mike Jakobsson, the Drafting and Woodshop instructor. Concurrently, Kevin sought out interested students for the team.
Students were gathered for the first lunch-time meeting in early October, and a hierarchy was established. Kevin became the president, and Logan Williams, who initially heard about FIRST on OPB when he was young, became the vice president. Logan applied for the NASA Program Growth grant, and successfully raised the $6000 necessary to register the team. It had begun.
