FIRST Robotics Competition Blog

One of the Five Strategic Pillars of FIRST is Increase Diversity. As Don Bossi, President of FIRST, said in this blog “we need kids of all backgrounds, capabilities and social circumstances to contribute and participate in addressing the world’s toughest challenges and making the world a better place for future generations.”

How teams and volunteers can support this so-important effort is not always obvious. Training can help. FIRST has made available a series of three free training modules under the umbrella title “Strategies for Inspiring Success for All.” The three modules are “Invisible Inequities,” “Hidden Messages,” and “Inspiring Success.” Each module takes about 20-30 minutes to complete. They include interactive exercises that will help you understand the material and take steps toward implementing a personalized plan to support equity, diversity, and inclusion on your team. If you are a mentor or student on a FIRST Robotics Competition team and are in the process of recruiting for the upcoming season (and it’s going to be a good one), now would be a great time to take this training!

Even if you are not on a team, but are a volunteer at FIRST events, I strongly recommend this training. Every interaction you have with a student or mentor, no matter how casual, is an opportunity to make FIRST a more inclusive and welcoming place. This, in turn, takes us one small step toward the goal of fully reflecting the communities we serve.

You can find out more about this training here. Please sign up, take the training, and help FIRST and the world move forward.

Frank