White Bear Lake Robotics

"To create a world where science and technology are celebrated... where young people dream of becoming science and technology heroes"

-Dean Kamen, Founder of FIRST.

 FIRST was founded in 1989 to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders by putting them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering, and technology skills, inspire innovation, and help with self-confidence, communication, and leadership. FIRST has innovative programs that motivate young people to pursue education and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math, while building self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills.

GRACIOUS PROFESSIONALISM

The highest award in the FIRST Robotics Competition is not obtaining first place; it is all about Gracious Professionalism. Gracious Professionalism is a fundamental belief of of FIRST. It encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the importance of others, and promotes respect for individuals and the community. With Gracious Professionalsim, students in the FIRST program compete like crazy, but still treat each other with respect. Gracious Professionalism is not just a policy in FIRST; it is a way of life.

THE FIRST ROBOTICS COMPETITION (FRC)

FIRST Robotics is a one-of-a-kind competition where high-school students are paired up with engineers to solve a common problem. Teams have six weeks to build a robot that can accomplish a given task. The game changes each year and there is no way for teams to know the challenge until it is revealed at kickoff in January. Each team receives a standard kit of parts plus an official rule book. In the FIRST Robotics Competition, scoring the most points is not the main goal. Students are also rewarded for team spirit, safety, Gracious Professionalism, community outreach, and more.

The first FRC competition was held in 1992, with 28 teams competing in a high school gymnasium in New Hampshire. Since then, the competition has grown exponentially and now reaches thousands of students around the world. Now there are 1,809 teams, reaching 45,225 high-school students from 12 different countries. They compete in 50 Regional and State events during the month of March and the first weekend in April, ending with the FIRST Championship in Atlanta, GA at the Georgia Dome in the middle of April. The robots are built in 6 weeks from a common kit of parts that is provided by FIRST and its sponsors. For more information about this year's challenge, click here.

OTHER FIRST PROGRAMS

FIRST also has three other robotics competitions: the FIRST Tech Challenge, the FIRST LEGO® League, and the Junior FIRST LEGO® League. The FIRST Tech Challenge is a smaller-scale sports-style robotics competition for students in grades 9-12. The FIRST LEGO® League and the Junior FIRST LEGO® League introduce younger students to science and technology by challenging them to solve real-world problems using LEGO® elements.

WHAT DOES FIRST MEAN TO OUR TEAM MEMBERS?

FIRST is a friendly competition that prepares high-school students to be future engineers. It's also a great place to explore  ideas for mechanisms that can accomplish a specific task. I've learned a lot my first year in robotics - one thing being that the season is too short!

-Mitch B.

Before I joined FIRST I was about as likely to interact with others on a regular basis as a snake is to fly, but now I am highly active within my FIRST team and also much more social outside of robotics.  To me, FIRST is not only For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, but also about the inspiring teamwork and problem solving in our everyday lives.  What I like about FIRST is all of the skills that I learned including teamwork, self confidence, gracious professionalism, problem solving, and other life skills. I have learned how to CAD an object and build a robot, a lot of physics, and a bit of math.  All of the skills that I have learned through FIRST have helped make me a nicer, calmer, brighter, more professional, and a more responsible person.  To me FIRST is a teacher that teaches more than any person could teach, it is a friend that you can always count on, but mostly it’s the point in many people’s lives that make them really think about their futures.  In the years to come I hope to learn many more life skills and become a graciously professional person.

-Dylan D.

When I joined the robotics team two years ago, I had trouble believing that I could possibly assist with building a robot. I was convinced that I was not smart enough or creative enough, but before I knew it I was cutting metal, drilling, tapping, suggesting ideas, and even doing calculations to make decisions on which motors to use. Now I am one of the team's captains and I am teaching new members the basics that I was learning just two years ago. Being a part of FIRST has convinced me that I am smart enough to solve complex problems and has provided me with a community that is constantly assuring and encouraging me.

-Grace H.

FIRST, to me, is not just an acronym that makes me ponder how long it took its inventors to come up with something that convenient. FIRST means “this is where you belong Liz, what are you doing over there?” FIRST means home in so many ways. When I joined our FRC team four years ago, my team’s rookie year, I thought I was finding a way to spend some time and then move on with my life. As it turns out, I found out how I wanted to move on with my life. I’d always had trouble deciding what I wanted to do with my life and career. Then, one day at robotics, I had a moment. In this moment, it became clear to me that this was what I wanted to do, and it hasn’t been unclear since. When I was touring colleges in the fall, the first two that I visited were liberal arts colleges. Suffice it to say that I didn’t like them. Then, I went to the tech schools. I knew that I belonged there, and when I got to Clarkson University, they told me in the interview that I could mentor a FIRST team next year if I went there. I will be attending Clarkson in the fall. FIRST took me from a slightly insecure, confused 9^th grader to a confident, happy 12^th grader just by showing me the light of engineering and people who, like me, just want to be awesome in the nerdiest way possible.

-Liz I.

Please visit the FIRST website at www.usfirst.org.