The acronym FIRST represents "For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology". The FIRST program inspires our students to value how knowledge and expertise in technical areas can be applied to solve problems, and that working as part of a problem-solving team can be challenging, rewarding and fun.

  Each year, students and their adult mentors work together to build a robot using limited resources and under a strict deadline. Teams must perfect a strategy with which to play the new game devised each year by the FIRST organization. Read more about these annual multinational competitions at FIRST's site.

  Traditionally, game play involves randomly-selected alliances with at least one other team, so that individual teams are encouraged to treat each other with "gracious professionalism". This gives participants an incentive to practice treating relationships with potential rivals/ alliance partners with care. The spirit of "co-opertition" pervades all robot competitions.

  Participation in FIRST has transformed many of our lives. An understanding and appreciation for the factors that can affect team dynamics is inescapable. In addition, the opportunity to forge friendships with engineers and other experts and to experience the satisfaction of working on a design team has helped to determine a college and career path for many participating students.

  The yearly competitions and robot-building consumes our team members' time, particularly during the winter months when we're in the shops as much as we can be.

  No other activity that we've seen gets adults and kids into the school working together, using brains and worthwhile skills, at early hours on a weekend morning! As Martha Stewart might say, "It's a good thing".