FIRST Programs
Since our inception in 2009, we have prioritized spreading FIRST's message to the rest of the world through mentorship, education, and community engagement.
Our Beginning
We initially began as a senior seminar program to allow students to apply their knowledge of STEM in a creative and engaging way. In 2016, we became a club, opening the door for younger members to participate in the FIRST Robotics Competition.
This transformation marked the beginning of our commitment to making FIRST accessible to students of all grade levels and backgrounds.
FIRST Lego League Impact
Team 27919 Mentorship
We began our FIRST Lego League team, team 27919, in 2016. We travel to tournaments with team 27919 to support them during their qualifiers. To increase engagement, we visit the middle school weekly to share our thoughts and insights.
We help with their build, code, and innovation project every year, ensuring they have the support needed to succeed in competition and beyond.
FLL Team Day
On November 9th, 2024, we hosted a FIRST Lego League Team Day, both a mentor coaching session and a team bonding day for their students. New coaches were trained to coach a robotics team while their students participated in activities guided by us.
We had 15+ attendees at the event. This is the first time anyone has hosted a training event incorporating mentors and students, showing future FRC students how STEM can be integrated into their everyday lives.
FIRST Tech Challenge Initiative
Robotics Class
To popularize the FIRST program, we advocated to start a Robotics class at The Wheatley School in 2024. In its inaugural year, it attracted 15 students who put in immense amounts of effort to participate in the FIRST Tech Challenge.
While many of our team members are committed to spending over 20 hours a week building a robot after school, not everyone can do so. Therefore, the Robotics class provides students with the opportunity to experience engineering, mechanics, and computer science all through the FIRST Robotics lens.
In 2024, we initiated our FIRST Tech Challenge team through this newly established Robotics class. This group of 15 students comes together every other day and works hard to prepare for their tournament.
STEM Outreach Beyond FIRST
Girl Scout Partnership
To increase female representation, we are working with 20 Girl Scouts to spread ideas of STEM and FIRST. With the scouts, we are assisting them in receiving their Robotics merit badge by demonstrating how certain mechanisms are built.
Merit Badge Program
Outside of working with other teams, we've had the honor of working with Scout troops to help them gain their robotics merit badge. We provide hands-on demonstrations and interactive learning experiences.
Spreading the FIRST Message
For the past 3 years, we have worked on spreading the values of FIRST to the world by being active on our social media platforms. We consistently post content showing the progress of our season while displaying engaging content to catch the attention of all viewers.
Acting as Role Models
Community Service Integration
Over the past few years, we've strived to aid our community by donating to nonprofit organizations. We worked alongside FLL members from different schools to host soup drives, packing over 100 dry soup bags that were distributed to a homeless shelter.
Additionally, during our district's events, such as Technology and Coding Night, we've collected over 200 toys for Toys for Tots. Many were eager to donate because it was their "entry ticket" to the event.
Continuing the Mission
We work hard to fulfill the mission of FIRST by taking action both inside and outside of our team. Our goal is to foster a passion for STEM in others. Through our robotics and innovation classes, we inspire students to create solutions to the problems they face each day.
Externally, we have promoted STEM by mentoring our district's FLL team, engaging guests at outreach events, and helping local scout troops gain their robotics merit badges. Thanks to our innovation and robotics classes, we've gained more interest and popularity in the robotics and engineering programs at our school.