After spending 5 years in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics program, I wanted to put together a resource that would help other people get involved. I started by researching common problems that people face when trying to start a team, and I realized that even though Southern Utah had almost 100 robotics teams for elementary and middle school students, there were less than 10 teams available for high school students to be a part of.
For this reason I decided to make a brochure that would ease the transition and provide location-specific resources for people hoping to transition from the younger program (FIRST Lego League) to the older program (FIRST Tech Challenge) that I loved so dearly!
After going through this research, writing all the content, and designing every bit of the brochure from scratch, we presented these resources that the FIRST World Championship in Houston, TX where our community centered initiatives helped us receive the recognition to be awarded as a finalist for the Connect award. This brochure and the associated resources were then shared at local tech conferences, on podcasts, and in other settings to help people understand the process of starting a robotics team better!
