After the success of the Wayland High School’s FIRST robotics team this past year, the expansion of two new FIRST® teams have been announced.

The new groups are  Wayland Middle School FIRST Tech Challenge Team and Pine Street Elementary School’s FIRST LEGO Team. Both are hoping to compete in the 2016-2017 academic year and are recruiting parent volunteers and student team members.

The middle school’s FIRST Tech Challenge team will be coordinated by science teacher, Michelle DeYoung-Foster. The teams design, build, program and operate robots to play floor games in an alliance format. Students work and create together to solve a common problem and will compete against other teams.

An informational parent/student meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sep. 20,  in Mrs. Foster’s room.  She is looking for adult mentors who have experience with CAD and JAVA programming and/or electrical skills.

Pine Street Elementary School’s FIRST LEGO League team this year is coordinated by Kelly Boston, media specialist.  This opportunity for fifth- and sixth-graders will allow them to explore STEM careers. FIRST LEGO League teams research a real world problem such as food safety, recycling, energy, etc. and are challenged to develop a solution. They design, build, and program a robot using LEGO Mindstorms then compete on a table-top playing field.

“Having teams at the lower grade levels will give them the valuable experience they need when they compete at the high school level,” said Director of Instruction Teresa Fulk. “We are very proud of the accomplishments from our high school Robotics team in their first year. We are thrilled to give more students the opportunity to participate in the various FIRST programs at the lower grades.”

“One of the goals of our district’s Strategic Plan is for students to be career/college ready upon graduation. Participating in organizations such as FIRST® allow us to provide them not only with opportunities to explore STEM careers but also lifelong skills such as communication, teamwork, work ethic, and problem solving,” said Fulk.

The school district recently received a grant of $750 for the FIRST Tech Team, a $5,000 grant for the FIRST robotics competition eam from the Wayland Union Education Foundation, and several other sponsorships from area businesses and community members.