The Paul Laurence Dunbar High School for Health Professions formed a FIRST robotics team in 2005. Dunbar is a health/science magnet school in Baltimore City. In 2007 students and a teacher from Patterson High School joined the team. Patterson is a Baltimore City vocational school. To prepare students for FIRST, both a robotics class and a robotics club were started at Dunbar in 2004-2005. During the school year, the robotics class introduces students to the foundational concepts of robotics. New robotics students benefit from the experience of previous robotics students assisting with the class. Both new and returning robotics students work together in the robotics club to build the FIRST robot, Big Cheeze. Both the class and the club are open to all Dunbar students who apply. Typically 10-15 students enroll in the class. An additional 5-10 student from Dunbar and Patterson join the club to construct the robot. Students on the robotics team commit to staying after school every Tuesday and Thursday until 6:30, and on Saturdays from 9 am to 5 pm

The students are supported by mentors, parents, and teachers. The support team is a changing group of engineers and professionals from the surrounding community, industry, and government agencies.

 Dunbar’s FIRST robotics team produces the following outcomes. The team enters and competes in the Chesapeake Regional FIRST Robotics Competition. The students develop and build a robot to compete in regional events, providing real world engineering challenges. This experience helps students connect traditional academic studies such as mathematics and science with engineering and technology. A major goal of this process is for team members to develop a set of life skills that focus on teamwork, mastery of technical knowledge and appreciation of technical knowledge. Students involved in this process can refine their career goals and develop a sense of personal and corporate identity that can provide direction to their post-secondary educational experience.