FIRST® History
FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a public charity founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen. Their mission is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication and leadership. http://www.usfirst.org/aboutus
FIRST at Lincoln Laboratory
MIT Lincoln Laboratory’s involvement with FIRST grew over the past three years with the formation of ROLL (Robotics Outreach at MIT Lincoln Laboratory) http://www.ll.mit.edu/outreach/ROLL.html. John Peabody, Jr. and Loretta Bessette are mentors within ROLL and parents of FIRST robotics team members. They have seen first-hand the positive impact that participating on FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) teams has on students. Their involvement with FIRST through ROLL has earned John and Loretta the appointment of FIRST Affiliate Partner (AP) for FTC within Massachusetts. They are working to bring the opportunity FIRST provides to Massachusetts high school students through team grants, workshops, scrimmages, and low cost tournaments (four qualifying tournaments and the MA State Tournament). In order to achieve their goals, they are working to raise $30,000 this competition season. These funds will cover competition expenses such as venue rental, competition field parts, trophies, scholarships, and workshop materials.
Donation
Tax exempt monetary donations may be made by credit card below.
Checks may be made payable to MIT and can be sent to Loretta Bessette, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, 244 Wood Street, Lexington, MA 02420. Offers for in-kind donations such as food for volunteers, event volunteer t-shirts, and public address system may be coordinated through John and Loretta at massftc@gmail.com, so the donations can be passed to the appropriate recipient.
If you would like to support the FIRST Tech Challenge within Massachusetts please visit our donation page (http://www.ll.mit.edu/ftc/2011/donation.html) to submit your donation.
Thank you,
John and Loretta