Robin Houston Founder and Developer FIRE Rocket Challenge

Robin Houston, an instructional leader in the Prince George’s County Public School System (PGCPS), has been involved in the education industry for thirty plus years. Currently serving as the Instructional Specialist for the PGCPS Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHOH) Program, Robin provides coordination and oversight for services to DHOH students birth to twenty-one years of age. Robin is credited with founding, assisting, and supporting extracurricular STEM clubs for over twelve years. She began her focus on developing quality STEM opportunities for students in PGCPS elementary schools as the result of looking for challenging extra-curricular activities for her daughter. In addition to using curriculums from First Lego League and Society of Automotive Engineers, Robin has developed and implemented original curriculums for real-world Project Based Learning units. In 2015, she created a real-world project-based competition (concept, rules, rubric, and parameters) for a local NSBE Jr. chapter, MD Space Business Round Table, INSPIRE Project, and NASA collaboration, which resulted in the top-placing team winning a trip to Space Camp in Huntsville. She has also organized events to promote exposure to industry professionals from NASA, CIA, NSA, Lockheed Martin, National Securities Technologies, and Aurora Flight Sciences, a Boeing Company. Robin has recruited, managed, and coached various groups of students during competition season for local and national activities such as Rocket Day at Goddard, Team America Rocket Challenge, First Lego League, Solar System Competition, NSBE Kids Zone Science Olympiad and Math Counts. Robin is currently part of the coaching team for the FIRE Aero Innovation Team, which exposes middle and high school students rocket design and principles of flight.