Friendly competition is at the heart of FIRST LEGO League, where teams build and program LEGO robots to navigate the missions on a game board. Teams also participate in a research project to identify and solve a real-world problem.

FIRST® Tech Challenge students design, build, and code robots to compete in an alliance format against other teams. Robots are built from a reusable platform, powered by Android technology, and can be coded using a variety of levels of Java-based programming.

Hello! We are Nerds On A Mission, your local FIRST Tech Challenge Robotics team. You might have seen us in the news last spring as a FIRST LEGO League team when we were preparing for the World Festival at the FIRST Championship. It was an amazing experience!

FIRST Robotics programs have had such a big impact for us that we wanted to expand this opportunity to other youth in our community and since 2022 we have been doing just that.

Currently there are 6 FIRST LEGO League Challenge teams in the area and a few rookie FIRST Tech Challenge Teams starting up this season. We want to see the programs explode in our area, giving all area youth that are interested the opportunity to be part of a robotics team!

We are planning workshops for both FIRST LEGO League and FIRST Tech Challenge next summer and we need to purchase equipment so that we can keep our community robotics programs GROWING!

We want to purchase GoBilda robot chassis kits and electronics so we can offer hands-on workshops to generate interest in starting more local FIRST Tech Challenge teams for 7-12 graders. Now is a great time to grow FIRST Tech Challenge teams due to start-up grants that will cover most of the expenses for a team’s rookie season. These grants are available for one more year for teams that include middle school students!

We also want to purchase more LEGO Spike robot kits and laptops for workshops, and to support the growth of new teams for 4th-8th graders.

Our program fills a gap in our community. While some of the local high schools have FIRST Robotics Competition teams, that still leaves several youth in our area without access to robotics teams. As a community based organization, we offer programs for students in our area regardless of school affiliation. We are the only community based robotics program in the area.

Our program has grown since starting our non-profit in 2022. This year we have grown to include five FIRST LEGO League Challenge teams for 4-8th graders, our FIRST Tech Challenge Team including 7th-12th graders, and 10 FIRST LEGO League Explore teams for Kindergarten-5th graders this past spring!

We need about $6,000 for the equipment for our planned workshops so that we can keep our community robotics program growing. We have a breakdown of the costs that we can share if anyone is interested in those details.

In closing I’d like to share a quote from FIRST founder, Dean Kamen. We are not using kids to build robots, we are using robots to build kids! Students involved in FIRST Robotics are learning 21st century skills including Project Management, Leadership, Communication, Problem Solving, Teamwork, and Time Management, all while developing technical skills in programming, sensors, prototyping, and assembly. Robotics is the sport where every kid can go pro! Thank you for considering supporting our project and spreading love for math, science, and technology to another generation!

Robotics Workshops and Robotics Team Growth

By Nerds On A Mission Corporation

Robotics Workshops and Robotics Team Growth

Supporting FIRST Tech Challenge and FIRST LEGO League