FIRST's Robotics Competition helps inspire middle and high school students to pursue careers in math and scienceIt's 6 p.m. on a chilly February night in New York City, and the Harlem Knights are racing to meet a deadline. The Knights are a group of about 30 kids participating in an after-school program at the Frederick Douglass Academy high school on 148th Street in Manhattan. Their task is to build a working robot as part of a program called For Inspiration & Recognition of Science & Technology, or FIRST.
Founded in 1989 by inventor Dean Kamen, FIRST is trying to tackle what many educators and businesspeople call one of the most pressing educational challenges facing America: inspiring middle and high school students too consumed by pop culture and their digital devices—or scared their jobs will be shifted overseas—to pursue careers in technology and science.
Bridging the Gap
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