FIRST is more than robots.
The robots are a vehicle for students to learn important life skills.
Kids often come in not knowing what to expect - of the program nor of themselves.
They leave, even after the first season, with a vision, with confidence, with a sense that they can create their own future.
- Dean Kamen
from the year 1992
"There's an obvious Skills gap in the workplace."
"we need to transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology leaders."
after 25 years, the stem skills gap is still a problem that needs to be solved.
so, why haven't things improved?
Hypothesis #1
growth in stem fields are faster than anticipated.
[we can't directly influence this]
Hypothesis #2
FIRST & STEM Programs have had an insufficient impact.
we can influence this!
Hypothesis #3
