When Maureen Reilly, fourth-grade teacher at PS 261 in Brooklyn, NY, decided to co-lead a FIRST^® LEGO^® League team at her school, she had no idea what to expect. She wasn’t even sure she’d know what to teach. After all, she wasn’t “into” science or math and knew nothing about starting a robotics program. She did know one thing—a team would improve the situation. So she recruited the special education teacher and the technology teacher at her school. Neither knew anything about robotics either, but they all agreed, Maureen laughed, “to forgive ourselves for not knowing things.”

Despite being unsure at first, the FIRST robotics program remains one of Maureen’s best teaching experiences. After doing it themselves, Maureen and her fellow teachers believe anyone can start a robotics program at their school. On the FIRST Inspire blog, the teachers share six lessons learned when they pushed themselves and their students to discover more through STEM.