Clark Graham carries around a small white rectangular-shaped piece of paper in his front shirt pocket.

Scribbled on that piece of paper is a list of kids who have approached him about their interest in one day pursuing a career in science, math or engineering.

He spoke of this list proudly Tuesday night after watching many of those kids participate in a First LEGO League (FLL) showcase at the Bates Location of the Boys & Girls Club of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County (BGCAA).

“Here’s a list of 12 kids, many of them from these teams here that have come up to me and said, 'Dr. Corky, I want to be a scientist or engineer,' " he said.

At the event were teams representing all five of the Boys and Girls Clubs throughout the county, including: team Brainiacs (Meade Village) composed of children from Severn, team Technokids (Freetown Village), team Tron (Bates), team Kentucky Fried Robots (Admiral Oaks) and team Panthers (Bywater).

Graham, or “Dr. Corky,” as he’s known to the kids, started the league in Anne Arundel County two-years ago, along with BGCAA Chief Professional Officer Reggie Broddie.

A former naval officer, Graham said when he retired recently from Northrop Grumman, he knew he wanted to get involved with kids and education.

“In our country, we don’t have enough American kids in our STEM education pipeline, so we’ve got to excite kids to get them interested in science and engineering and math early enough so they can study, you know, do well in high school and get to college,” he said.

So, he started the nonprofit Let’s Go Boys and Girls, which focuses on bringing STEM learning activities to the five Boys and Girls Cubs in the county. Participation in the FLL, which has teams in more than 50 countries, is among those activities.

Each local team participated in a regional competition, where they were judged in four categories, including: robotic performance, design presentation, a research project and leadership and teamwork, Graham said.

The Kentucky Fried Robots of Admiral Oaks advanced in their competition and will compete in the State Championship at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County on Feb. 26.

But on Tuesday, it was less about competition and more about showing the community what they had learned. Each team went around and presented their research topic.

Then came time for the robotics performance, where each team tested their robots on an obstacle course.

Derick Stansbury, 14 and a student at Bates Middle School, participated on Team Tron.

“We learned all different kinds of programs and all different ways to design a robot,” he said.

“They actually develop a computer program on their PCs and then download it into their robots,” Graham said.

Daryus Scott, 11 and also a member of team Tron, said his favorite part was building and having the competition.

Scott said it was a fun way to learn—a concept Graham expressed, as well.

“Robotics are cool enough... that [the kids are] willing to work,” Graham said.