By Tracy Trofimencoff
On October 22, MakeShift 4039 robotics students from St. Mary Catholic Secondary School, Teacher Mentor Tracy Trofimencoff and Lead Community Mentor Matt Alderson represented their team at Dreamer Day, held at the Enercare Centre in Toronto.
Dreamer Day is a celebration dedicated to empowering girls to explore careers in skilled trades, STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics), emergency response, entrepreneurship, and leadership. The event brings together thousands of young women to discover opportunities, connect with mentors, and be inspired by hands-on learning experiences.
As part of the celebration, the MakeShift students showcased their 2024 competition robot, Reverb, and 2025 competition robot, Cascade offering live demonstrations and presentations to the crowd. Their goal was to highlight the excitement of FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) and to encourage more girls to get involved in robotics programs at their schools.
“Our team is passionate about outreach,” said teacher mentor Tracy Trofimencoff. “Dreamer Day gave our students the chance to connect directly with over 3,000 girls and share what makes STEM and robotics so rewarding.”
The Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board is proud to support robotics programs at multiple levels, from FIRST LEGO League (FLL) to FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) and FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC), across both elementary and secondary schools.
By participating in Dreamer Day, MakeShift 4039 not only inspired the next generation of innovators but also reinforced their mission: to empower students, especially young women, to dream big, think boldly, and build the future through STEM.
