A program that reaches students worldwide, this community delivers hands-on STEM learning that inspires innovation, builds confidence, and prepares kids for life. FIRST promotes growth powered by mentorship, community and teamwork, creativity, and engineering challenges. This STEM-based organization holds 3 different levels of competitions based on a student’s age:

FIRST LEGO League (K-8th Grade)

FIRST Tech Challenge (7-12th Grade)

FIRST Robotics Competition (9-12th Grade)

Team 2659 participates in the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC).

For more info about FIRST from their official website, click here.

What is first?

“more than robots”

FIRST (acronym of “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology”) promises to stay the forefront of STEM education through its:

Purpose

Their purpose is to prepare students “of today for the world of tomorrow.” Essentially, they promote a hands-on education to prepare students for real life applications such as engineering.

Vision

Their vision for FIRST is to shape today’s society into a world where science and technology are celebrated. Alongside this, their aim is to create an environment where young people strive to become science and technology leaders.

Mission

The mission of FIRST is to give “life-changing robotics programs” that give students the confidence, resilience, and knowledge to transform the world.

first core values

FIRST has 6 Core Values:

Discovery

Explore new skills and concepts and expand knowledge with curiosity

Inclusion

Respect each other and accept our differences

Innovation

Use creativity and develop resilience to face and solve problems

teamwork

With collaboration, challenges become easier to face.

impact

Apply values and knowledge learned from FIRST to real-world situations

fun

Everything we do is out of joy, and we are proud of our work