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FIRST Wisconsin, with support from Google, is excited to offer a grant for FIRST Tech Challenge team support for the FIRST IN SHOW Season in Wisconsin.
Google's priority with this funding is to reduce barriers and increase FIRST Tech Challenge participation of middle school-aged students who are under resourced or have been traditionally underrepresented in STEM. Criteria for the grants include:
1. More than 50% of the team are middle school age 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 (As defined by the Municipal Urban-Rural Classification (MURC) System located here)
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.
Returning 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.
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.
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 1 scrimmage and a Qualifying Tournament)
Rookie teams MUST send at least one representative (maximum 2 per team) to the FIRST Certified Professional Development training, hosted by FIRST Wisconsin on Thursday, October 26th between Noon - 7pm and Friday, October 27th between 8:30am - 4:30pm at the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) in Milwaukee, WI
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 on Thursday, October 26th between Noon - 7pm and Friday, October 27th between 8:30am - 4:30pm at the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) in Milwaukee, WI
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 and preliminarily awarded on a weekly basis until funding is exhausted or October 20th, 2023. A rookie team representative is required to register for the FIRST Tech Challenge Professional Development Training for the grant to be issued. Click here to apply for the FIRST Tech Challenge Google Team Support Grant.
(NOTE: This specific grant is targeted for Middle School students, however if you need help, FIRST Wisconsin encourages you to complete this information to share more about your needs in the event we can find alternative support for you team - see question #13 to submit your information).
FAQs:
What is FIRST Certified Professional Development Training?
FIRST Certified Professional Development is an immersive learning experience that will help you acquire or strengthen your facilitation skills for project-based learning and 21st-century skills such as creativity, problem-solving, and teamwork in an active learning environment.
Each course is led by a FIRST Certified Trainer and provides the necessary tools to bring FIRST programs to your classroom or as a structured afterschool program.
Certificates for continuing education or professional development credit are provided following the completion of the session.
What can I expect from the FIRST Tech Challenge Professional Development?
The FIRST® Tech Challenge professional development course gives attendees a strong understanding of how to implement the FIRST Tech Challenge program and how to achieve science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning objectives.
In FIRST Tech Challenge, students learn to think like engineers. Teams design, build, and program robots to compete in an alliance format against other teams with a spirit of friendly competition. Many call it “the hardest fun you’ll ever have.”
Participants in this course will walk in the footsteps of the students as they engage in these hands-on experiences and practice engineering principles such as keeping an engineering notebook.
What are the course requirements?
FIRST Wisconsin Provides:
FIRST® Tech Challenge Robot kit - AndyMark Robits Core Kit
Control and Communication Set
Electronics Module and Sensor Set
Participant Brings:
Computer with internet access
What are the course objectives?
By the end of this course, you will:
Participate in the FIRST experience from a student’s point of view
Explore the essential components of the FIRST Tech Challenge program
Feel comfortable using hardware and software components of FIRST Tech Challenge robotics kits such as TETRIX, REV, and ANDYMARK
Understand how to code using Blockly programming software
Learn how to facilitate hands-on activities for the classroom or after-school programs
Collaborate with other participants and share best practices
Be able to foster computational thinking, collaboration, and problem-solving skills in students
Have experience with Project-Based Learning, the Engineering Design Process, and 21st Century Skills
Implement Diversity and Inclusion practices
Utilize, model, and reinforce the FIRST Core Values
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