FOR INSPIRATION AND RECOGNITION OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FIRST
200 Bedford Street, Manchester, NH 031011132 www.firstinspires.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: See Mission statement on Schedule O, pg. 154.The mission of FIRST is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders and innovators, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering, and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership.

To inspire youth to become science and technology leaders and innovators.

The FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) directly served approximately 97,000 high school students on 3,914 teams. Working with mentors, each team builds a robot in six weeks from a kit of common parts, designing it to meet this year's game challenge, "Infinite Recharge." While a total of 142 events were cancelled due to the global pandemic, some teams were able to participate in one or more 2 to 3-day events at 52 locations, competing for awards for game scores, safety practices, teamwork and other qualitative achievements, stressing the values of cooperation and inclusion. The FRC Program provided students with the experience of applying science and technology to achieve a specific challenge under a time constraint. (Narrative continued on Schedule O, pg. 154-155). This experience developed students' technical skills, teamwork and the ability to deal with the satisfactions and disappointments of a real engineering project. Participation in FRC has inspired many students to go on to college, pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, and math. Many FRC coaches and mentors work in these fields and help the students develop bonds within their communities and connections to the workforce development pipeline. Students in the FRC program are eligible for college scholarships through the FIRST Scholarship Program.

The FIRST LEGO League (FLL) reached approximately 318,000 students aged 9-16, on 38,609 teams in 103 countries. The year's challenge was called "CITY SHAPER." Teams worked on game challenges using either LEGO Mindstorms EV3 or LEGO Education Spike Prime technology, applying science and engineering to: identify a problem with a building or public space in their community, design a solution and share that solution with others and then refine it. The FIRST LEGO League Junior (FLL Jr) program served over 184,000 students aged 6-9, on 25,979 teams through a web-based game challenge called "BOOMTOWN BUILD." (Narrative continued on Schedule O, pgs. 155).Using their imagination and LEGO Education WeDo 2.0, teams explored the growing needs and challenges of the people in their community by creating a building with the purpose of solving a problem and making life easier, happier, or more connected for the people that use it. Participation in FLL and FLL Jr has engaged students in a comprehensive experience developing confidence in their ability to address serious issues, enhancing their education in science and math, and exposing them to a STEM career. By progressing through each program and ultimately to FRC, students gain a full suite of technical skills and ongoing encouragement, making it more likely that they will pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

The FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) served approximately 77,000 youths from ages 12-18 on 7,610 teams. Like the FRC Program, FTC is a design and build experience, but uses a smaller kit and less complicated game challenge. In this year's game, "SKYSTONE," each team built a robot and participated in a regional tournament. FTC provides an experience similar to the FRC Program, but is more readily accessible to a broader audience of educators and students, in part because of its lower cost. The FTC experience simulates the excitement as well as the pressure of a real-life engineering project, developing not only the students' technical know-how, but also leadership, cooperation, ability to plan, patience, and teamwork. (Narrative continued on Schedule O, pg. 155).Like the FRC Program, FTC enriches the participating students' ability to deal with the satisfactions and disappointments of a real engineering project. The FTC experience expands students' interest in science, technology, engineering and math, and inspires many to go on to a higher education. Like the FRC participants, students in the FTC program are eligible for some of the college scholarships through the FIRST Scholarship Program. By progressing through each program and ultimately FRC, students gain a full suite of technical skills and ongoing encouragement, making it more likely that they will pursue careers in science and technology.

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