Inspiring Students
Imagine the scene: A packed stadium…excitement and tension filling the air…thousands of fans shouting and wildly cheering for their favorite team. Just the fun and frenzy you would expect at a sporting event, but this time the shouts and screams are for…robots, students, technology, and a program known as FIRST.
What is FIRST?
FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is an international non-profit organization that creates accessible, innovative programs that build self confidence, knowledge and life skills in young people while motivating them to pursue a future in science, technology, and engineering.
Founded by inventor Dean Kamen in 1989, FIRST programs engage students and volunteer mentors in hands-on collaborative problem solving, and encourage development and growth of lasting partnerships between schools, universities, businesses and communities. FIRST helps prepare today’s youth for the advanced workplace of tomorrow.
For more information, visit www.usfirst.org
What are the FIRST Competitions?
In order to appeal to youth, FIRST takes the best from an athletic competition and combines it with an engineering challenge. Teams plan, design, prototype, and build a robot and then compete in an engineering challenge that looks like a high-tech sporting event.
FIRST gives students a chance to solve problems in a hands-on exciting and creative way, side-by-side with their mentors and teachers. All teams start with the same parts and materials, follow the same rules, and function under the same constraints of limited time and resources.
Last year, over 100,000 students from around the world along with teachers, industry mentors, parents, and leading corporations participated in FIRST competitions. . Locally, the Chesapeake FIRST (www.chesapeakefirst.org) regional competition is an exciting and fun event that clearly demonstrates the enthusiasm of high school students for engineering and technology. The competition will be held at the U. S. Naval Academy Halsey Field House March 16-17, 2007.
FIRST has created a variety of programs.
- Jr. FIRST LEGO League for ages 6-9. Fall/Winter
- FIRST LEGO League for ages 9-14. Uses LEGO Mindstorms™ RCX or LEGO NXT™ technology and exposes teams to formal research preparation and presentation. Research theme for 2006 is “Nano Quest.” Fall/Winter.
- FIRST Vex Challenge for high school age. Utilizes Vex™ Robotics systems, a modular, C-programmed, user-friendly platform. Fall/Winter/Spring
- FIRST Robotics Competition for high school age. 6-week intensive robot building from raw materials. Many teams active in skills development, marketing and outreach year round. Jan & Feb for robot build.
$8 million in scholarships awarded to participants last year.
How can you help?
Join the 45,000 volunteers involved in FIRST this past year. With assistance from the mentors, students learn to set goals, learn skills, accomplish tasks, and meet deadlines and learn to be part of a team.
Types of Volunteers:
Team mentors work with an individual team, meeting with them as needed. Timing varies by program.
- Technical mentors needed for: mechanical, electrical, programming, video, animation, CAD, welding, project design and management, web design.
- Non-Technical mentors needed for: communications, marketing, fundraising, public relations, developing leadership, financial management, administration, and transportation.
Resource Mentors assist with a particular project or skill. Meetings arranged as needed.
Event volunteers assist at a specific event in a variety of roles, including as judges, with set-up and field control, and as referees.
If you want to learn more about FIRST and volunteer for events, please contact:
Regional Directors:
Chesapeake (MD& DC): Mildred Porter, mporter@usfirst.org
Virginia (DC): Pattie Cook, robotsfirst@aol.com
Team & Resource Volunteers: Maryland: Jenny Beatty, jbeatty@usfirst.org, In DC: Janet Lathan, janetlathan@comcast.net , In Virginia: Dee Tomczak, robotstoo@aol.com
Chesapeake Competition Event Volunteers: Desiree.A.Taminelli@nasa.gov
See positions: http://www.chesapeakefirst.org/regionalcompetition/volunteerpositions.html
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| Photo provided by Team 612 |
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