FIRST Technology Challenge

One of the best things about being a part of FIRST® is joining a community of like-minded individuals who work toward a common goal. In the short term, that may be building an awesome Robot, but in the long term, that means changing the culture we live in. For every one of us who works for FIRST, participates in the Programs, and most especially donates our time, energy and resources, we do so with the goal that we are making a difference. Where all that starts is within the team environment. Both students and Mentors/Coaches learn and teach each other more than just how to build and program a Robot. They learn about Leadership , careers that are open to them in the future, and the how to work as part of a team. In the majority of careers, knowing how to work as part of a team is essential . There are very few jobs in this very connected day and age where people work completely alone. Within a FIRST® Tech Challenge team, by working on teambuilding , team members benefit in the areas o...

New Year, renewed focus!  And regardless of how or where you celebrate the new year, there is never a time of year that it isn't important to think about  giving back . That means something different to different people. For some, it's giving back to their community: community service, donating time or money, and even volunteering. For others, it's spending time with family: building snowman, taking a hike along a beach, or even just staying home and playing board games. There are thousands of ways to define giving back, and one of those ways within our FIRST ® community, is Gracious Professionalism® . Gracious Professionalism is "a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community." Our top teams and volunteers exhibit this quality on the competition field, at home in their communities, and even online. This characteristic is strongly represented in our teams that become our Inspire ...

By FIRST ® President, Don Bossi For those of us at FIRST® Headquarters (HQ) and many of our affiliated organizations throughout the world, the most fun and rewarding part of our roles is having the opportunity to meet and speak with the kids who participate in our Programs, as well as the adult Coaches, Mentors and Volunteers who support them.  I love hearing their stories of impact, growth and change.  If you wonder whether we ever get tired of those stories, we don’t!  Please keep them coming. That said, I do get one question more frequently than all the rest, so I decided to answer it here today – Where is FIRST going? Let me begin by giving you a little background on where FIRST is today. Using the United States as an example, FIRST programs only exist in about 9 percent of all K-12 schools in this country. In addition to these school-based teams, we do have many community-based teams that help fill the gap. However, even with those, it’s safe to say that FIRST pr...

When I was a kid, we lived on a road that led from the highway to the fairgrounds, so the last week in August we haunted the front porch waiting to see the onslaught of vendor and ride trucks hurry past. At the fairgrounds, we would stand out of the way and watch empty fields turn into a magical world of tents, booths, animal stalls, and of course, rides! Then for five days the field became its own world, bustling with lights, noise, and energy that we lived within during the day and could see and hear from our bedroom window each night. And then, on Tuesday morning, they were all gone, having packed up and crept away in the middle of the night to head off to other fairs and events. The absence of that temporary world was always palpable for a few days as we re-emerged from its magic into the real world and preparations for the first day of school. If you have ever attended a FIRST Tech Challenge event, then you have also experienced a magical world called the FTC Pits. Physically, ...