Each year, FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge teams with stellar Innovation Projects have the opportunity to compete for a chance at the Global Innovation Award.  This year, the 20 Finalist teams were joined by teams from FIRST® Tech Challenge and FIRST® Robotics Competition for a remote multi-day experience at the end of June that included judging, mentoring, workshops, and community.  In addition to being judged on the traditional FIRST LEGO League Challenge Innovation Project elements, these teams have also explored factors for implementing their work.

So, what does a remote innovation extravaganza entail?

Mentoring, mentoring, and more mentoring!

Through the generous time of our presenting sponsor STAR WARS: Force for Change, each of our 60 Finalist teams was paired with several mentors from Disney, Lucasfilm, or Industrial Light & Magic. Each team meet with a mentor guide, specifically paired to bring them expertise for the Innovation Projects and serve as a learning facilitator to ensure teams best utilized advice from other specialty mentors in user experience design and marketing/branding.

Teams were also individually paired with mentors from other sponsors as well as pitch coaches from the socially minded business incubator SEED SPOT, through the support of Partner in Innovation Booz Allen Hamilton, to assist them in refining their business and elevator pitches. 

Vibrant Virtual Pit Spaces

All teams spent time putting together an online pit space designed to showcase themselves and their innovations.  They featured design briefs, supporting research, CAD models, videos about themselves, and regional recipes.  Teams were able to chat and ask questions of each other in these pit spaces.

Community

Finalist teams were able to meet with each other throughout the remote event, as well as participate in some GIA-thalon themed puzzle activities designed for fun and to build community.  We also had a daily activity feed with costume day, MEME day, and get moovin’ day.  And, all teams took a pledge to become the next class of Innovation Ambassadors and keep the spirit of innovation lit in their own communities.

Image 1: D++ (2018 runners-up in the Global Innovation Award) helped the new members of D++ and Digital (Israel) take the 2021 pledge. Image 2: The pledge was administered by participants Avanti from FIRST Tech Challenge Finalist the Thunderbots and Linden from FIRST Robotics Competition team the Zebracorns.

Careers

Thanks to our Sponsors, Finalists got a taste of numerous career pathways where innovation is a key skill.  Finalists heard from dynamic employees with expertise in everything from data analytics to artificial intelligence and the cutting-edge technology they work on as well as had Q&A time with them.

Impact

This year’s RePLAY^SM theme had teams thinking about how health and fitness can be achieved through active play and sports.  We saw innovations with tremendous potential to make an impact and many teams already making a difference in the lives of their end-users.  Kudos to all participating teams and to the FIRST LEGO League Challenge participants.  Here is a snapshot of teams who took home awards:

• WINNER: FIGLOVE by Team “SESI Big Bang” of Sao Paulo, Brazil for their innovative glove that helps reduce pain during exercise in Fibromyalgia patients.
• RUNNER-UP:  Acti-Go All Terrain Sled by “8404 Team Not Found” of New Hamburg, ON, Canada for a sled that can be used on multiple terrains, keeping kids active year-round
• RUNNER-UP: SmartSteps System by Team 2751 “LEGO Legion” of Cincinnati, Ohio for a shoe insole with sensors to measure weight, allowing for better, more active recovery from injury or surgery.
• Innovation Impact Award: The Corti-Monitor System by Team 5875 “Corti-Patch Kids” of Oakville, ON, Canada for a cortisol monitoring system that allows patients with Addison’s disease to exercise without concern.
• Create Award: PlayAR by Team 33017 “#PandaPower” of Los Altos, California for their App library of augmented reality fitness games, based on classic video games like Pong, which use the camera on your computer/phone to use your face as a controller.  They already have 1300 users!
• Implimentation Award: Limestoneopoly by Team 44949 “Robotillers” of Bedford, Indiana for an interactive, exploration exercise game that motivates players to be active outside and  inspires location-based involvement wherever the game takes place.

For more information on the Global Innovation Award, visit our Innovation page on the FIRST website.

For a sponsor recap of the event, check out the Star Wars: Force for Change blog on the event.

On August 17th, the CARGO CONNECT train will leave the station and teams will be up and running with their new knowledge of the detailed Robot Game Missions and Innovation Project. Even without these details, you can get a head start. Here are 5 steps to take now.

1. Register your team(s). By starting now, your team will be set up to receive important emails from both FIRST HQ and your local partner.

2. Order your Challenge and Robot Sets. Once registered, you have access to purchase a Challenge Set and get a good look at the mat layout. Maybe you’ll even get some ideas for how you will navigate your robot to difference areas of the mat.

3. Set up your team meeting space. Whether you are meeting at school, a friend’s house or even remotely, set up your space so you have everything you need ready to go. Where will you set up your mat? How will you keep your materials organized so you don’t lose any important pieces? Where will you charge your robot’s battery?

4. Seek out Transportation experts. We know we’ll be tackling problems related to transportation, even without all of the details. Use this time to start seeking out local experts. Are there shipping companies, airports, or freight docks in your community?

5. Practice your Core Values. The Core Values remain central to the program and do not change from year to year. Since you know your team will be judged on how well the embrace the Core Values, start learning what they are and how your team can make them a part of your transportation journey.

by Kim Wierman, Program Director

It would be a real understatement to say this was a year like no other! In the 10+ years I’ve been with FIRST, I have never seen a hands-on, in-person, sport-like event need to move to a remote environment. But I have also never seen perseverance and dedication from both teams and our global partners like we saw this season. The entire community rallied and innovated and supported, and even thrived, despite not being able to do things the way we would have liked. Isn’t that what we are all about anyway? 

How will we remember the 2020-2021 RePLAY(SM) season? Will it be remembered as the year the world shut down in an effort to stop a global pandemic? Of course. But we did so much more than survive a pandemic.  

It was the year team SESI Big Bang invented FI GLOVE and earned its place as winner of the Global Innovation Awards. It is the year our partners in Egypt prepared nine graduates of FIRST LEGO League to present the program to its school administrators so they could see with their own eyes the impact the program has had on students.  If is the year that teams and partners from around Latin America worked together to make sure students in some of the hardest hit countries had an opportunity to participate in a meaningful way.  It is the year that our partner in Greece tried new models for delivering the program that will make future years even more accessible to more students throughout even the most remote areas of country. 

Above all, it was a year like any other year when it comes to what is important. We saw countless examples of teams living the Core Values of: Discovery, Innovation, Impact, Inclusion, Teamwork and Fun, all while learning valuable STEM skills. 

I want each of you to pause and reflect on your own journey this season and fill in the blank in this sentence: RePLAY was the season my team ________________.  What were your own personal accomplishments that will help you remember the 2020/2021 season as more than the year of the global pandemic? You all have incredible stories and victories. You all were adaptable and creative and innovative. And you all should be very proud of these accomplishments. 

I want to give a big shout out and high-fives to the FIRST LEGO League coaches who overcame all of the obstacles and still guided their teams through remote meetings and competitions. 

We look forward to the new season, CARGO CONNECT, no matter how slow our return to normal may be. I have full confidence in you to continue to persevere and continue to pursue your dreams to become STEM leaders and good global citizens. 

We are pleased to announce the Volunteer of the Year Award recipients for both FIRST LEGO League Challenge and FIRST LEGO League Explore. Recipients for the Challenge Division are David Baran from Maryland, USA and Sofia Bensouda from Morocco. Explore Division recipients are Rick Ramhap from Long Island, NY, USA and Stephen Swartzentruber from Ontario, Canada.

In a year where nothing was “normal” and every FIRST volunteer rose to the occasion to ensure teams were still able to participate in meaningful way, a few volunteers were recognized by their peers as extraordinary. It was an extremely difficult decision as to who should receive the awards since nominations from regions around the world told truly heroic stories of dedication and passion.

Take a closer look at our Award recipients, why they were chosen to receive this award and why they volunteer for FIRST.

David Baran

“Dave, Maryland’s Head Judge, spent countless hours, nights, and weekends, thoughtfully planning, and considering how to optimize the virtual environment, providing the community with a quality experience,” said Jamie Gurganus, Maryland’s FIRST LEGO League Program Delivery Partner, in her nomination. “Dave’s leadership, passion, innovation, and tenacity are to be commended as it elevated this years’ experience for all our teams.”

Dave’s volunteering extends beyond Maryland and into neighboring regions of Virginia and across the U.S. Dave has spent his 10 years as Head Judge ensuring judging and the deliberations are equitable and inclusive and making sure everyone is heard.

As to why Dave volunteers for FIRST, he explains, “FIRST LEGO League specifically is a great program. The engagement we see across not only traditional demographics for engineering, but the non-traditional is going to help us grow the next generation of researchers and engineers. We have to have a more diverse base and this is a really great way to do it.  I get a lot of personal benefit and enjoyment from seeing anything from the littlest successes to the largest for the teams.”

Sofia Bensouda

Sofia, Morocco’s national Head Referee, has been instrumental in translating community resources and sharing them with the teams. She conducts training and manages communication with all national referees with on-the-spot support on the day of the events. Additionally, she creates various communication channels with teams to answer all their questions and support them in their season.

“Everyday for the past year, Sofia helped coaches prepare for the season and keep in touch with the program,” said Laila Berchane, Program Delivery Partner for FIRST LEGO League in Morocco, in her nomination of Sofia. “She joined our organizing team last year and has done so much to advance this program and make it accessible to teams.”

“Thank you for your trust and for this nomination. I am very grateful for it,” says Sofia. “I am happy to volunteer because I can see what a difference it is making, and I personally get so much satisfaction from seeing what it is doing for the students who are a part of it.”

Rick Ramhap

Thirteen years ago, Rick wanted to get his two children involved in FIRST LEGO League Jr., but at the time, there were no teams available on Long Island to join.  Instead of just starting his own team, which he did, he began the FIRST LEGO League Jr. program, now the Explore Division, on Long Island with School-Business Partnerships of Long Island (SBPLI).

In her nomination of Rick, Co-Director of FIRST LEGO League Explore for Long Island, Eileen Kaler said, “Rick is the epitome of what FIRST is all about.  He truly loves the program, and his passion for it is contagious when you talk to him about it. Rick made the Explore season possible with his vision and hours and hours of work, and his amazing technical abilities.” 

In his own words, Rick explains why he volunteers for FIRST. “I volunteer because I enjoy seeing the impact that FIRST has on students. I have seen the development of my own children through FIRST as well as countless others as they progress through each program. FIRST has forever changed my family and provided me with an additional FIRST family as well.”

Stephen Swartzentruber

Stephen has been a long-time FIRST volunteer and this year has once again risen to the challenge as he pivoted to organize and host three virtual events for Ontario teams.  In nominating Stephen, Explore Program Delivery Partner, Christine Bibic told us, “Stephen did a fantastic job at recruiting and training stellar volunteers to help with these events, worked tirelessly behind the scenes producing the online events, and communicating with the teams.”

Stephen was instrumental in ensuring the events had all of the normal reviewing sessions, but also lots of fun games for teams while they awaited their turn with the reviewers. In addition, he organized a virtual awards ceremony, continuing in the tradition of celebration found at FIRST LEGO League Explore events. 

“The reason why I work with FIRST and continue to work with FIRST is I am exposed to some to some of the most incredible and inspiring people that I have the opportunity to meet anywhere, through my teams, through FIRST in Ontario and all up and down the programs,” said Stephen. “I’m constantly impressed with the volunteers I run into and the growth and learning opportunities it presents to learn from people around you and make connections and meet new people.”

We would like to thank all of the volunteers who dedicate so much of their time and resources to supporting teams and events.  Of special mention are others who were nominated for this year’s award.

Honorable Mention Nominations

Ryan Buller, Kansas, USA

Michael Calahan, Texas, USA

Johannes de Vries, South Africa

Rosi dos Santos de Carvalho, Brazil

Rachel Ellestad, Tennessee, USA

Gregory Gorman, Texas, USA

Nick Hammes, California, USA

Bill Mielke, New York, USA

Bradley Neureuther, New York, USA

Keith Smith, Louisiana, USA

Janis Steinfeld, Oregon, USA

Richard Storrick, Ohio, USA

On June 24-27, 2021, teams from 117 countries around the world will participate in live judging, robot matches and activities at the FIRST LEGO League Virtual Open Invitational organized by our partner in Greece, eduACT. All teams are invited to join in the celebration to culminate the RePLAY(SM) season by tuning in to watch the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and Robot Game matches that will be broadcast.

There were hundreds of remote events held throughout the RePLAY season, but none this large. With 200 teams participating, close to 2,000 students will have the chance to connect via video to be judged on their Innovation Project and Robot Design along with Core Values. The event organizers will broadcast the Robot Game matches for exciting game play viewing. Be sure to visit the virtual pits to learn more about the teams participating.

More information can be found on eduACT’s website.

We are honored to announce our 2021 FIRST^® LEGO^® League Challenge Innovation Project Finalists! These 20 teams are being recognized for their Projects from the RePLAY^SM season, which challenged teams to invent new ways and places to play, move, and stay active. 

The Innovation Project finalists will be joining the 40 FIRST^® Tech Challenge and FIRST^® Robotics Competition Innovation Challenge presented by Qualcomm finalists at the 2021 FIRST^® Global Innovation Awards powered by Star Wars: Force for Change at the end of June.

Congratulations to this group of talented young inventors! Learn more and join us for the awards celebration on FIRSTtv, June 30 at 2:30pm ET.

There’s no question that this school year has been different from any before. Facing the challenges of having to adapt to remote, hybrid, or in-person learning during a global pandemic, the creation of innovative tools to make scheduling and attendance easier is essential. Who’s better at creating innovative solutions than members of the FIRST^® community? Members of former FIRST^® LEGO^® League team NXTreme who participated in the 2009 SMART MOVE^SM Challenge have been working on a tool to help schools since they were tasked with that season’s Challenge over 12 years ago.

Today, their Innovation Project turned business/App, PickUp Patrol, is in 3 countries, 34 states, and countless schools. Thanks in part to the creative thinking and technical skills the members learned from their experience in FIRST, the PickUp Patrol App has been adapted to fit the current needs of schools during the pandemic.  

The team from Mont Vernon, NH, USA created PickUp Patrol as their SMART MOVE Project after being tasked with the season’s Challenge, addressing the problem of transportation within their community. At the time, the kids saw that their rural school district, who was using notes and other processes to keep track of student attendance, needed a technical solution to help staff keep things streamlined.

Team NXTreme, 2009

The 4^th-6^th grade team members got to work, creating a prototype of an app where parents could make changes to their child’s attendance from their phone or computer, and office staff could keep track of what was going on in real time. Teachers would be automatically alerted to be apprised of students’ schedules. The kids presented the Project to their school board via a puppet show, and the school board loved the idea so much that they gave them the green light to build the app! The team got to work, with Coach Eric Edvalson and other mentors teaching the kids how to code. After a year, the team had a working version of the PickUp Patrol App.

Implementing PickUp Patrol at a school

In 2009, the Global Innovation Awards had not been created yet, so the team found another contest for middle school students where they competed, won, and received money to fund the development of their project. They continued to participate in FIRST LEGO League during this time, earning a spot at the FIRST Championship in 2012 where they won the first place Programming Award.

At the 2012 FIRST Championship in St. Louis, MO, USA

After their appearance at Championship and a trip to the White House Science Fair to showcase their invention, the app started taking off. Around this time, the team applied for an accelerator within their home state of New Hampshire and received intensive business training. By now, the kids were starting high school, and Coach Maria Edvalson, now COO and Co-Founder of PickUp Patrol, always encouraged the kids to pitch their web application rather than the adults, often to the initial hesitation of others.

Team members meeting with former NH Governor Maggie Hassan and other business leaders.

“[They were] Better than us adults, I really think their FIRST skills shined all the way through”, Maria said of the student’s communication skills.

By now, PickUp Patrol needed an upgrade, so the team brought in mentors, re-wrote the app, and officially started their company. Through the years, some kids from Team NXTreme dropped off, pursuing college and careers. Today, 3 original team members have equity in the company and 1 works full time for PickUp Patrol as a software engineer. “It’s been a long haul!” says Maria of the team’s journey.

PickUp Patrol’s core product is still intact today with additional features to address the changing needs of schools during COVID. During Summer 2020, the PickUp Patrol team joined reopening task forces to learn about the problems schools were encountering as they prepared for the new academic year. During these conversations, they learned that health screening and social distancing during dismissal time were going to be especially difficult for schools to manage. To address this, the PickUp Patrol team added several features to their app.

The app that had humble beginnings in rural New Hampshire continues to gain users with schools in 34 states, Canada, and the Dominican Republic currently using the product.

“The things they learned back then still carry us through what we do now.” says Maria about PickUp Patrol. The simple but effective design the kids created has endured time and is well received by school staff and parents alike.

“FIRST is such a great program; we had so much fun with it. So many great memories. What a great program, great all the way around.”

For more information about PickUp Patrol, visit https://www.pickuppatrol.net/.

Interested in learning more about how FIRST inspires innovation? Learn more.  

We’re beyond excited to announce this year’s FIRST^® LEGO^® League Challenge FIRST^® Innovation Awards semi-finalists! These game-changing teams demonstrated creativity and originality, and will advance to the Global Innovation Awards in June! 

A special thank you to all the FIRST LEGO League Challenge teams that participated this season and congratulations to this year’s Innovation Awards semi-finalists!  

If your team was chosen as an Innovation Project semi-finalist, please be on the lookout for an email with more information containing next steps.  

Congratulations to:

This season has been unique, and we continue to be inspired by the ways teams have innovated together, regardless of their learning environment. With our extended season brings the opportunity to reach even more students, so we’ve adapted the RePLAY^SM Challenge materials for Google Classroom. All registered teams and Class Pack participants have access to the materials, and we’ve created a Guide for Distance Education that has tips, tricks, and additional resources for running the season remotely.  

To participate, each student will need a LEGO^® Education robot and 3 RePLAY Mission Models from the RePLAY Challenge Set. Additional Challenge Sets and Mats can be purchased through the FIRST^® Dashboard.   

Download your Challenge Guide for Distance Education  for how to use these new materials and get in the game.  

Are you a FIRST^® LEGO^® League Explore Coach? Check out the Explore Guide for Distance Education for information about running the PLAYMAKERS^SM season using the remote learning platform Seesaw.  

Let us know what you think about these new resources and share any tips, tricks, or questions about the season using #FIRSTGAMECHANGERS on social media. 

Special thanks to FIRST^® Robotics Competition LAUNCH Team 6532 for their help with creating these materials!  

Due to the unique challenges facing the 2020-2021 season, we’ve adapted our traditional event experience with the safety and well-being of our community as our top priority. For this reason, FIRST^® events in your area may be offered in traditional or remote formats.  

How can a hands-on activity possibly be the same in a remote setting? Events are when we get to see each other – even if virtually – and celebrate the fact that we banded together as a community in hard times and still found ways to engage. They’re the time to celebrate that we solved our goals and missions, despite the obstacles we faced during this unprecedented time. The event experience is a great way to make sure teams stay connected as we return to normal – we’ll be stronger together next season because of how we persevered together this season! 

If you think about it, almost every industry that involves travel or in-person collaboration has gone virtual. Along the way, we’ve learned that technology is the next best thing to meeting in person – and we should use it to the fullest. 

Remote events also allow more teams to navigate remote or hybrid school and still have time to work as a team and enjoy the feedback of judges, referees or reviewers just as in an in-person event. 

We’re certainly looking forward to seeing all of our teams under one roof in person when it’s safe to do so, but in the meantime, we’re happy we have the technology to give virtual high fives to our FIRST friends! 

Photo from the 2019 FIRST Championship

Are you attending a remote event this season? Share your experience using #FIRSTGAMECHANGERS and see what other teams are up to on our community wall.  

FIRST Program Delivery Partners are your local program contacts and manage the events in your area. Event formats and timing for the 2020-2021 season will be determined by your Program Delivery Partner. Contact your local Program Delivery Partner for information about events available to you. 

Today, we’re catching up with the accomplished inventors from Team FSINGENIUM from the Navarra region of Spain. The team won the FIRST^® LEGO^® League Global Innovation Award in June 2018 for their invention from the HYDRO DYNAMICS^SM season, HYDROBALL. HYDROBALL is a soil measuring device that can be buried in the ground for years and read how much water is available for crops to absorb.  It then transmits the data via an app, which farmers use for watering crops. 

What’s new with the HYDROBALL?
The project has leveled up. Right now, we are in the laboratory that we have created exclusively for the development of this project, as well as hiring personnel for the development of the project. In this laboratory we create our own electronic boards, use soldering irons, have our own ceramic furnace, we test different components for the HYDROBALL, and we have been able to develop our own sensors that do not exist on the market.

The last time we spoke, you mentioned that you were trying to find a material with adequate porosity. Have you been able to solve it?

The team illustrates their design process at the University of Barcelona, late 2018

It has been a hard process and more complicated than we thought when we initially came up with this project. Now that we have a ceramic kiln, we are prototyping our own clays for testing. As we can only make ceramics in very small numbers, we are working with a German factory that is doing the same as us, but on a larger scale.

How is the development of the HYDROBALL’s mobile app progressing?
We continue to develop it, but first we have to keep developing the sensors. Our goal is for the product to be ready for commercialization in 2022.

With all the progress you have made, do you think this product is affordable for the general public?
The estimate we have is 80 Euros, which is equivalent to around $100 USD. Right now, the specialized market offers certain solutions using sensors that cost approximately $1000 USD.

The idea is that it is not only the farmer who has access to the HYDROBALL, but also that the general public can use it for their own gardens or potted plants. We are also already designing the user experience and have mockups of the packaging.

Do your youngest new team members also help with the development of the HYDROBALL?

From left to right – original team members Mario, David, and Alejandro. They continue to mentor the team.

The younger youth members are developing their own project for the RePLAY^SM season. We aged out of the program but continue to mentor the current team as well as continue our education beyond high school. Each of us has specialized in a particular aspect of the HYDROBALL project and continue to develop it. We believe this project is a success for all of us, and we consider ourselves very lucky to be able to develop it further.

How do you finance the project?
We have grants from the Navarra government to develop this project, and we have also just received a local grant. The plan is to eventually get more funding within the European Union. We already have a company interested in marketing this product in Latin America when it is ready.

We’re excited to continue to monitor HYDROBALL’s development! Does your team have an invention from the FIRST^® GAME CHANGERS^SM powered by Star Wars: Force for Change season that they want to share with the world? There’s still time to get your team involved in this season’s FIRST LEGO League Innovation Project or the FIRST^® Innovation Challenge presented by Qualcomm for FIRST^® Tech Challenge and FIRST^® Robotics Competition teams.

Join us for the first episode of our Beyond the Bots^SM series on FIRSTtv tomorrow, January 16, at 12 p.m. Eastern Time. During the show, FIRST^® game designers will pull back the curtain to see a never-before-revealed look at the evolution of game design over the last 30+ years.

We will also be joined by experts from Disney, Automation Direct, and members from the FIRST^® LEGO^® League & FIRST^®Tech Challenge game design teams. At the end of the show, teams will have a chance to submit questions during an “ask me almost anything” segment.  

We hope you can join us for this special look behind the scenes of the game design process! Tune in at https://www.twitch.tv/firstinspires.

Join us on Saturday, January 9 at 12:00 pm (noon) ET for the FIRST^® Robotics Competition Kickoff Celebration. Catch the broadcast on FIRSTtv as we reveal the details of the FIRST Innovation Challenge presented by Qualcomm, INFINITE RECHARGE at Home, and the Game Design Challenge.

Learn more about FIRST Robotics Competition here, and let us know if you’re tuning in by using #FIRSTGAMECHANGERS on social media!

At FIRST^®, we believe every student deserves the opportunity to study computer science and should have access to quality computer science learning programs. To further extend these types of resources to students around the world, we’re excited to host a free Hour of Code with WPI on Saturday, December 12 at 1PM ET as a part of Computer Science Education Week.

During this special broadcast on FIRSTtv, we will break down a complex task to help students build their programming skills at little-to-no-cost, whether they’re meeting with their teams in person, virtually, or working individually from home.

We hope you can join us! Tune in on Saturday at 1 PM ET: https://www.twitch.tv/firstinspires #CsEdWeek #HourOfCode

This season, all registered PLAYMAKERS^SM and RePLAY^SM teams in the U.S. and Canada can access digital season resources through our Thinkscape portal (if your team is located outside of the U.S. or Canada, please contact your local Program Delivery Partner for assistance with accessing digital resources).

Included with the digital resources are Spanish and French language guidebooks for all FIRST^® LEGO^® League divisions.

Find instructions for accessing digital materials in Thinkscape by FIRST LEGO League division below:

• FIRST LEGO League Discover
• FIRST LEGO League Explore
• FIRST LEGO League Challenge

November 17 is National Entrepreneurs’ Day, and we’re celebrating the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs who are changing the game in big ways. FIRST^® LEGO^® League teams are no strangers to innovation, creating solutions to real-world problems as part of their Innovation Projects each season.

We can’t wait to see what innovative solutions teams come up with this RePLAY^SM season! How’s your team’s Innovation Project coming along? Share an update on social media using #FIRSTGAMECHANGERS or send us an email at fll–media@firstinspires.org for a chance to be featured!

Sunday, November 8 is National STEM Day

Today’s post is by Tammy Pankey and Lori Birch, members of the FIRST Education Team. It was originally featured on the FIRST Inspire Blog.

Students need social and emotional connection to their peers and mentors now more than ever. Doing hands-on learning with FIRST provides social collaboration and community for students. The pandemic has limited many students’ opportunities for hands-on learning, creating a lack of meaningful engagement and a disconnect from relevance in their learning. FIRST is about helping student learn to solve problems, overcome obstacles, and persevere in the face of challenges – including those posed by remote learning.

STEM has always been the catalyst that can drive change, inspiring young people to go on to better our world. Just as we inspire students to innovate and solve problems, we’re doing the same by adapting our programs and opportunities to remote and hybrid learning environments, so students can continue to participate in FIRST and benefit from the opportunities it provides, despite the pandemic. FIRST participants celebrate their accomplishments, form lifelong friendships, and gain the experience and support system that they need to be successful.

FIRST programs make a positive impact on student learning through project-based learning that creates authentic learning opportunities relevant experiences provided by our programs, both competitive team and classroom-based opportunities. Our longitudinal study data shows that experiencing just one year of FIRST has a positive impact on STEM outcomes for students. These outcomes are demonstrated by this program’s rigorous and relevant content that incorporates relationships within a team and the larger community. One of the most valuable elements of FIRST are the life skills it instills in students in the face of challenges.

Four Ways to Explore STEM Remotely with FIRST:

1. Explore remote STEM activities with free FIRST at Home lessons

We’ve created free and flexible FIRST @ Home lessons to support the continuation of learning and skill development. These lessons represent an opportunity to build a variety of technical skills, career preparedness, and holistic skills to prepare for life – ranging from high tech, to low tech, to no tech. The FIRST @ Home activities can be used in a full remote environment with supplies that students can find a home.  They offer hands-on STEM learning to help students keep engaged when they may not have access to other supplies such as robots. The continuation of their hands-on learning will help them to stay engaged and progress in STEM skills that will help them throughout life.

• Use our remote program guidance to host remote FIRST team meetings

FIRST has created guidance on how to implement our programs and embrace the “sport of the mind” in a remote or hybrid setting. This guidance includes remote meeting ideas and how to support the students and their parents and guardians in these settings. There are many creative ways to engage teams and classrooms in the FIRST programs outlined in the guidance provided on our COVID-19 impact page.

• Support parents and guardians at home

Parents and guardians take on an even more critical role in students’ lives during remote instruction. While many parents monitor their children’s play and schoolwork, they may not realize the learning and developing that happens through hands-on STEM and play. As educators, you can guide your students’ families and provide additional opportunities for parents to play and build with their children. We have resources for parents on our FIRST @ Home site as well to help parents guide their students in project-based learning, along with other great resources to help parents balance the challenge of parenting and at-home teaching. 

• Get creative!

Creativity is a key to face challenges and overcome obstacles, and this includes being creative with your own situation and the challenges you face.  The tools available in the FIRST @ Home activities help create opportunities for playful creativity to increase hands-on learning and keep students engaged in a FUN way that allows them to explore their passions and interests.

Giving students the opportunity to solve through real-world problems is an invaluable gift that will help prepare them for their future. FIRST inspires creativity, communication, collaboration, and critical thinking building their future workforce skills.

We’ve extended the FIRST season and developed remote engagement solutions for all of our programs. Head over to the FIRST Dashboard to register your team, or if you’re new to FIRST click here to find out how to get started. It’s time to be GAME CHANGERS!

This month, we’re highlighting some of the people who helped inspire the PLAYMAKERS^SM and RePLAY^SM season #IRL. Check out all of their stories in the Career Connections sections of our season guides!

Meet Javion Mosley! Javion works at FIRST^® LEGO^® League Global Sponsor Rockwell Automation and is a mentor for Team #2830 Riverside Robotigers. Javion is also a FIRST^® alum!

In addition to robotics, Javion loves to travel and experience as many new things as he can. Javion’s passion for travel and STEM even brought him to China, where he was an intern at Rockwell Automation before he started his full-time work.

Javion’s STEM superheroes are Wilbur and Orville Wright, thanks to his admiration of flight.

Javion advice to teams? Treat FIRST as part of your building blocks for your future, as the steps you take today will affect your outcome tomorrow.