My Nonprofit Reviews

I became aware of FIRST Robotics during a competition that was held at the Kennedy Space Center. At that time I was a member of the Astronaut Corps and was invited to the competition by another astronaut, Dave Brown. I was amazed at the quality of the robots and the level of competition. Since that time I have become involved both from a planning perspective as well as a judge and a judge advisor for the Oklahoma Regional, the Dallas Regional and the National Competition in Atlanta. FIRST provides students with a way to increase their knowledge of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by working alongside highly talented volunteer engineers and scientists. They work in a real world environment with limited budgets and strict time-lines to produce high quality and technically proficient robots. They take their finished product and compete at regional and national competitions against equally talented and competitive robots. FIRST teaches these students about the value of learning by doing and competing with others in a professional and gracious manner. The skill sets they learn through FIRST are incredibly valuable to their lifelong learning and professional development. I highly recommend that communities work to make FIRST a part of their educational goals for all students in their regions.

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