Who We Are

W.A.F.F.L.E.S. Community Robotics is a not-for-profit, volunteer-operated organization located in Kingston, Ontario Canada.  We have a family of community-based FIRST Robotics programs for youth aged 6 through 18, which are open to anyone in the area who does not have a team at their school.  Our teams are supported by a group of sponsors and mentors who are alumni or community professionals.  We also run LEGO robotics summer camps and are a part of many community events to promote STEM in our area.  Take a look at our other pages for more details on our programs–we are always looking to recruit!

The W.A.F.F.L.E.S. Acronym

One of the most common questions we get is, “What does W.A.F.F.L.E.S. stand for?”  It stands for Wild About Family & Friends Learning Engineering & Science.  The name was the idea of our original LEGO robotics team, and we have since expanded to include many more robotics programs.  We think we live up to our name!

FIRST Robotics

FIRST, which stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, is an international organization whose goal is to advance STEM education and inspire youth in the fields of science and technology.  FIRST has a family of programs to reach different age groups: FIRST LEGO League Discover (ages 4-6), FIRST LEGO League Explore (ages 6-10), FIRST LEGO League Challenge (9-14), FIRST Tech Challenge (grades 7-12), and FIRST Robotics Competition (grades 8-12).  FIRST has grown since its beginning in 1992 and has major supporters including NASA, Google, National Instruments, Boeing, and many more.  The W.A.F.F.L.E.S. run teams who participate in these FIRST programs.

Our Mission

Our mission is to ignite and fan a flame of passion in young people for STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) and business, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that inspire innovation and personal growth, fostering well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, leadership, and teamwork.

Our Vision

We seek to be a diverse group of dedicated and reliable individuals that will work together as a highly functional team, with a culture that focuses strongly on student opportunities for skill development and personal growth.  We strive to communicate effectively, to conduct ourselves with integrity, to always contribute our best as individuals and do what is best for the team as a whole.  We aim to be sustainable with a supportive, respectful and cooperative atmosphere, endeavouring to continuously improve both individually and as a team.  We celebrate achievements based on our own definition of success.  We make every effort to demonstrate our positive, friendly, gracious and cohesive team in all we do.  We strive to develop positive relationships within our team and FIRST and our community.