Grant for Middle School Students & Professional Development for Adults

FIRST Wisconsin, in collaboration with Google for the second consecutive year, is thrilled to announce the availability of 20 grants aimed at schools and community organizations looking to engage middle school students in the FIRST Tech Challenge program.

This initiative is a testament to the ongoing commitment of FIRST Wisconsin & Google.org to foster innovation & STEM education among students. The funding prioritizes reducing barriers & increasing participation in FIRST Tech Challenge for middle school-aged students who are under resourced or have been traditionally underrepresented in STEM. The grants provide a chance for schools & community groups to participate in the program, which empowers students to explore the realms of science, technology, engineering, & mathematics in an interactive and hands-on manner.

Collaborating with community partners in the previous season resulted in the establishment of 12 new rookie FIRST Tech Challenge teams across Green Bay, Milwaukee, and extending to Madison, along with additional support provided to veteran teams. For this season, FIRST Wisconsin aims to recruit 20 teams to participate in the INTO THE DEEP℠ presented by RTX challenge, with a focus on expanding program access across the central and western side of the state in Madison, La Crosse, and Eau Claire.

Criteria for the Grants

Grant criteria for the INTO THE DEEP℠ presented by RTX season includes:

1. Creation of the team supports increasing access to the FIRST Tech Challenge program for middle school students

AND

2. More than 50% of the team meets one or more of the following team demographics:

• Students identify as BIPOC - Black, Indigenous, or People of Color

• Students are Female or LGBTQ+

• Students are eligible for free/reduced lunch

• Students live in rural areas

Rookie teams can apply for support consisting of team registration; FIRST Wisconsin event registration; robot kit of parts; hand tools; and partial field game set and mats.

2nd Year Google.org teams (Teams who received training in FY2023-2024) can apply for support consisting of FIRST team registration; FIRST Wisconsin event registration; bonus kit of materials; and partial field game set and mats.

Veteran teams can receive a grant for FIRST Wisconsin event registration support and it may be possible for returning teams to receive additional team registration support, pending number of requests and amount of available funding.

Teams will need to apply each year of funding and are encouraged to develop a sustainability plan; we have resources such as the Sustainability Tool Kit from FIRST to offer guidance to teams as they plan.  

Please submit ONE (1) form per team. Sponsorship is limited to one award per team per season. Multiple teams from a single school/organization must apply separately. Applicants will receive an award decision via email. Click the button below to apply.

FIRST Tech Challenge Google.org Team Support Grant

If awarded, team grant funding can only be remitted to a FIRST Team Account OR a school or nonprofit organization upon receipt of a completed W9 form.

Teams accepting grant funds must:

• Register for and participate in the current FIRST season in Wisconsin (attend at least one scrimmage and a Qualifying Tournament or two Qualifying Tournaments)

• Rookie teams MUST send at least one representative (maximum 3 per team) to one of two FIRST Certified Professional Development training events, hosted by FIRST Wisconsin, between August - October (final date TBD) in Wisconsin.

• Returning teams have the option to send one representative per team, if spots are available, to the FIRST Certified Professional Development training hosted by FIRST Wisconsin.

• Provide a completed W9 form for remitting funds

• Report on demographics of students impacted through the grant support

• Agree to recognize Google as a team sponsor using the supplied logo in all team marketing.

Applications will be reviewed starting July 23rd and preliminarily awarded on a monthly basis until funding is exhausted or September 15th, 2024. A rookie team representative is required to register for the FIRST Certified Professional Development Training for the grant to be issued. 

(NOTE: This specific grant is targeted for Middle School students, teams with a majority of high school students participating should fill out the FIRST Wisconsin Hardship grant here - https://forms.office.com/r/Q6sV15HtQE) 

Thank you,

Renee Becker-Blau