MCALLEN, RGV - When the FIRST RGV robotics season ends, in late March, the group’s president, Jason Arms, often finds students in various teams in tears.
He hopes this is not the case from this season onwards.
“The kids enjoy our robotics program so much and the demand is so great that we are announcing a summer league, for next year. Just because school is over, we will not be,” Arms said.
“Students have been wanting it. We have seen kids crying at the last event, just because it is over for the season. Through the support of the community and our industry partners we are extending it through the summer, having a summer league.”
FIRST RGV was launched as a nonprofit in October 2015. Before that, students who started robotics teams to compete in local, state and national competitions had to affiliate through FIRST in San Antonio.
FIRST RGV runs four programs, for different age groups. Arms explained which kids are in which programs.
“In our Junior program, which is our K-thru-3 space, we have about 75 teams. The FIRST Lego League Junior is for grades 4-thru-6. This has 130 teams. The FIRST Tech Challenge program is for grades 7-thru-12 and has 155 teams,” Arms said.
“The FIRST Robotics competition is for students who want to build the large robots that typically stand about six feet tall and weigh about 130 pounds. This requires advanced engineering. We have about 14 of those teams in the Valley right now. The reason that number is so low is it requires an advanced understanding of engineering and also costs on average about $25,000 per team for registration, equipment and travel.”
School districts assist FIRST RGV financially. For the most popular program, the FIRST Tech Challenge, the cost is $8 per student for the school district.
The news season starts on Saturday with competition in McAllen High School’s main gym. It starts at 9 a.m. and if all those who have confirmed their attendance show up, the gym will be packed with 1,600 students, parents and supporters.
“This is our biggest season ever and it is the biggest FIRST kickoff in Texas. We are already at about a 26 percent growth this year,” Arms said. “We will have student activities and the public is invited to attend. It is going to be a packed house.”
As in previous years, a number of VIPs have been invited to attend the season kickoff. Among those slated to attend are McAllen Mayor Jim Darling, Dr. J.A. Gonzalez, superintendent of McAllen ISD, Julian Alvarez, labor representative on the Texas Workforce Commission, and Trung Cao Nguyen, manager of Royal Technologies’ advanced technology plant in Mission.
“We have also invited Dr. Narciso Garcia, superintendent of Vanguard Academy, who is a big supporter of FIRST, and Mario Lozoya, executive director of Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation. In his previous life, working for Toyota in San Antonio, Mario was a member of the FIRST In Texas board,” Arms said.
Asked what the students get out of being a member of the FIRST family, Arms said:
“What has been key with FIRST and why I fell in love with it back in 2015 and started FIRST RGV is, you look at these students and it opens their mind, it gives them a kit of parts and shows them what they need to achieve and it does not give them a road map. So, it requires them to be big thinkers.
“They have to think outside of the box. They have got to be an engineer, be a programmer. They have to demonstrate conflict resolution, they have got to prepare a presentation, they have got to do outreach in the community, either through presenting at community groups or presenting for lower grades.
“And they have to do mentoring. So, FIRST is a great program that builds a full 360 student that allows them to be good stewards in the community. It is really what we need these days because the kids are not on their phone. Other than driving the robot, there is nothing they need to use their phone for.”
When she was a student at Nikki Rowe High School in McAllen, Millenium Star Rosales was president of the school’s FIRST program. Now 19 years of age, Rosales assists FIRST RGV as an Americorp VISTA student.
“As a student, I was president the entire time I was involved with FIRST and my priority was making sure all the members in the organization understood how important FIRST was,” Rosales said.
“Not only were you competing but you were giving back to the community. I tried to make sure the students understood the community aspect, that you have to be able to communicate, both vocally and through your actions, how important your community is to you.”
Asked where she stands on the STEM versus STEAM debate, Rosales said:
“I do like the ‘A’ in STEAM, but I believe it should stand for the Art of Doing Something. Not necessarily for the Arts itself. You don’t just go out and find a theater kid or an art kid because you only want them to do posters. You have to reach out to that kid because they have communication skills that can benefit the team. I would never argue that a STEAM class could replace a STEM class because there is a basic math and science thing that for sure needs to be taught and learned but I do believe that with communications it is the Art of Doing Something.”
Asked what students get out of FIRST, Rosales said: “There are not a lot of school organizations that really emphasize the team aspect. Whether it is programing, coding, notebooks, designs, fundraisers, FIRST makes sure you realize it is a team effort. It is about getting out of your comfort zone.”
Rosales said she is looking forward to another successful season for FIRST RGV.
“I am excited, I have had a lot of kids that have come up to me and told me how excited they are. The demand just keeps growing. There has never been a downsizing or lowering of the numbers in the Valley. We are expecting 1,600 people to attend the kickoff to our 2019-20 season.”
