Bringing FIRST to a struggling public school in a low-income community required sheer force of will. Teachers wouldn’t help us. We had no classroom. We had to use bathrooms at a nearby fast food restaurant. How do you establish a culture of achievement in a community where failure is the norm? Our small team of 10 rookie students did it. The students themselves are driving change. It’s year two and we’re still here and growing. We won a Judges’ Award in 2014 (our rookie year), and in 2015, our captain was named a Dean’s List Winner!