Why this superintendent chose FIRST to boost student engagement

In our rural, northeast corner of Oregon, we have a shortage of both industry and opportunity, and too few of our kids attend college.

About five years ago, I learned about FIRST and brought it to my school district. FIRST has been amazing! It provides our schools with the perfect combination of interest (robots), drive (the competition), soft skill building (Gracious Professionalism^®), hard skill building (programming, designing and building, electro-mechanical systems), and marketing, along with access to STEM professionals and universities. It also allows my students to dream new dreams. I go from watching them be students who lack vision, skill, and confidence, to becoming leaders who believe they can do anything. The effort is worth it; 25 percent of the kids in our district are now on a FIRST team, and 100 percent of our team’s seniors have both graduated from high school and gone into college.

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FIRST mentor leads students into brighter futures

Chelsey Roebuck

FIRST Alum, FIRST Robotics Competition Team 1218; Mentor, FIRST Robotics Competition Team 1660; Co-founder, Emerging Leaders in Technology and Engineering (ELiTE)

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FIRST provides opportunity to those who need it most

Kenny Bargas

FIRST Alumnus

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Connecting students with role models

Joaquin Nuno-Whelan

FIRST Mentor; Chief Engineer, Next Gen Trucks, General Motors

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With FIRST, the game is not the prize

Jackie Moore

FIRST Mentor; Program Director, Level UP, Inc

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INSPIRATION IS EVERWHERE

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