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title: Countdown to Kickoff; Plus, a Year in Review
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FIRST Robotics Competition kicks off January 5; TE Connectivity is a FIRST Strategic Partner; a look back at the events and stories of 2018

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| DESTINATION: DEEP SPACE Kicks Off January 5 Travel to the outer limits of the universe in DESTINATION: DEEP SPACE Presented By The Boeing Company. On Saturday, January 5, at 10:30 a.m. ET gather your #stemsquad and watch the 2019 FIRST® Robotics Competition season kickoff – powered by Rockwell Automation – on the FIRST® Twitch channel. TE Connectivity Invests in FIRST FIRST is proud to announce TE Connectivity, a leader in connectors and sensors, as a FIRST Strategic Partner. The global technology and manufacturing company is recognized as providing the highest level of sponsorship through cumulative and overarching support of FIRST and joins more than more than 20 other companies in the top-tier level for sponsorship. 2018 Year in Review: Events The landmark FIRST LAUNCH season marked the 30th year of FIRST and introduced the cross-program theme of space exploration and innovation. FIRST Championship Presented By Qualcomm® Incorporated brought 70,000 students, coaches/mentors, volunteers, and spectators to Houston, Texas, and Detroit, Michigan. The eighth annual FIRST® LEGO® League Global Innovation Award celebrated innovations in the human water cycle by international FIRST LEGO League teams during the HYDRO DYNAMICSSM season.   The fourth annual FIRST, Inspire Gala honored Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos.  2018 Year in Review: Impact and Stories Follow-up data highlighted in the Year 5 Report of the FIRST Longitudinal Study from Brandeis University found FIRST continued to have a positive impact on participants on key STEM-related measures at 48 months, and that girls in FIRST continued to show significantly greater impacts than their male counterparts. The FIRST Scholarship program grew to over $80 million in available scholarships to FIRST® Tech Challenge and FIRST® Robotics Competition participants. FIRST earned the top 4-star rating from Charity Navigator for the 13th consecutive year. FIRST was profiled on HBO’s Emmy-award winning program Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. FIRST announced 12 recipients of the 2018 FIRST STEM Equity Community Innovation Grants. A FIRST STEM Equity Community Innovation Grant funded a flexible distance learning curriculum to help rural students overcome barriers to academic success. SHARE       |
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