The MARS Vision

MARS strives to provide a purpose-driven, creative outlet for its students through FRC while inspiring a change of culture in rural communities through outreach with FIRST and STEM programs.

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The MARS Mission

By utilizing STEM programs through the MARS Plan, it is the mission of MARS to inspire youth in rural and under-served areas in West Virginia and around the world to pursue their creative and intellectual passions. MARS does this through community outreach and development of technical programs designed to instill superior practical life skills in students, including:

  • Gracious Professionalism®

  • Teamwork

  • Leadership

  • Coopertition®

MARS members also develop exceptional personal productivity skills such as:

  • A strong work ethic

  • Time management techniques

  • Superior dedication and commitment to team and community

  • Highly developed organizational skills

MARS welcomes all people without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender, sexual orientation, ancestry, abilities, economic or family status, life situation, veteran status, or philosophy. We strive to be an inclusive environment for all individuals by advocating for and providing equal treatment to all.

Indigenous Land Acknowledgement

MARS, and the presence of the buildings it uses, resides on land that is the ancestral territory of the Massawomeck peoples. With the statewide STEM outreach MARS provides, this includes the ancestral territories of the Shawnee, Lenape (or Delaware), Cherokee, and Haudenosaunee (or Iroquois--the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, Tuscarora), and other Indigenous peoples.

We recognize and appreciate all those Indigenous nations whose territories we are living on and working in. Indigenous peoples have been in the land currently known as West Virginia since time immemorial. It is important that we understand both the context that has brought our community to reside on this land and our place within this long history. We also recognize that colonialism is a current, ongoing process, and as scholars seeking truth and understanding, we need to be mindful of our present participation in this process.

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