Most who read this blog are already engaged with FIRST. You�ve seen the impact on students from the spark of discovering �they can do it� to engaging with others and building life skills. If you�ve been with us several years you have seen students winning scholarships and pursuing STEM related higher education as a result of their FIRST Tech Challenge journey.
FIRST is impactful, but it�s not a shallow dive. We continually try to balance ease of engagement with an experience that serves the mission of inspiring the next generation of technology leaders.
Many of you started with FIRST after hearing about it from someone already involved. They shared first hand experiences and hopefully helped you down the learning curve.
Regardless of how you came to know FIRST, the decision for a coach to start a team is a big one. Do I have the time, can we raise funds, are enough students interested, do I know enough about robotics to tackle this? All great questions, and all impact the decision process.
Most teams register with FIRST in the fall as school ramps up and students return from summer vacation. Those rookie coaches and teams registering in September have a steep learning curve for sure, and we've been working on developing a way to give them a head start, or a Jump Start�.
That�s exactly what the Jump Start offer is, a way for rookie teams to get started earlier with FIRST Tech Challenge. Jump Start allows rookie teams to register this season, get access to the discounted robotics kit of parts now, and start engaging in the wonderful FIRST Tech Challenge community. This will set them up for success in the 2019/2020 season and beyond.
Many of our coaches are also teachers. Extending entry into FIRST Tech Challenge via Jump Start, teachers have time to see if it can fit into their classrooms, curriculum, or after school activity. Jump Start also gives school administrations earlier access to the FIRST Tech Challenge program.
'To take advantage of the Jump Start program, click here to start the registration process now. Register, order the discounted kit of parts, and gather a team of up to 15 students. While the average team size is 10 students many coaches use the FIRST Tech Challenge parts and curriculum for full classes. Jump Start teams will automatically receive a credit for next season�s registration fee ($275 value).
If your team or school district qualifies, you can also receive a need based rookie grant of $500 this year to get started. Our goal is to expand the FIRST opportunity to as many students as possible. Jump Start is another tool for that expansion and we thank our sponsors Qualcomm and the DEKA Foundation for their help making grants available.
We know most of you reading this are already involved in FIRST, but we ask that you share this with others who can make a difference in this world for generations to come. The Jump Start offer will give them a great chance to get started early and make FIRST even louder in the seasons to come!
Ken Johnson
Director, FIRST Tech Challenge
