National Mentoring Month celebrates and highlights the importance of mentoring within our communities, schools, and organizations. At FIRST^®, our coaches and mentors are vital to the success of our students and our programs. We want to say thank you to everyone who has spent time investing in our students this year and beyond.

Scroll down to explore how FIRST is celebrating and appreciating our coaches and mentors this month. Opportunities include a Mentoring Month raffle, free season-theme magnet, blog posts, and social content to share.

Enter the 2023 FIRST Mentoring Month raffle for a chance to win a FIRST Store gift code worth $50. Stock up on new FIRST ENERGIZE^SM presented by Qualcomm swag or get that FIRST sweatshirt or jacket you’ve seen around at FIRST events. All FIRST mentors and coaches are eligible to win! Limit one entry per person. The raffle ends on February 1, 2023, so get your entry in today. Winners will be notified via email (please use the same email associated with your FIRST account for verification purposes).

Enter the Mentoring Month Raffle today!

In celebration of Mentoring Month, receive a free FIRST ENERGIZE magnet with the purchase of a coach/mentor pin on the Volunteer Recognition Store. Snag your 2022-2023 FIRST ENERGIZE coach/mentor pin for your favorite mentor or for yourself. Our exclusive new ENERGIZE magnet will only be available as a free gift in January for Mentoring Month! Take a stroll down memory lane and peruse FIRST coach/mentor pins from seasons past, while supplies last. No gift code necessary, the free magnet will be automatically applied to your order when you purchase a coach/mentor pin in the month of January.

Grab your coach/mentor pins and free FIRST ENERGIZE magnet today!

The FIRST Mentor Network, sponsored by NI, provides our teams access to passionate, engaged mentors, while giving mentors the opportunity to use their unique skill sets and have meaningful involvement with one or more teams. In celebration of Mentoring Month, we asked one our mentors on FIRST Mentor Network to highlight his experience mentoring with FIRST.

Luke Kindelin has been serving with FIRST for four years, as an event judge for FIRST^® LEGO^® League and a mentor for FIRST^® Robotics Competition. As an R&D Test Systems Engineer at NI, Luke brings both his technical skill and passion for seeing students learn and problem-solve to teams he mentors in Texas and beyond.

Read about how Luke Kindelin uses the FIRST Mentor Network to inspire students

Join us at the 2023 FIRST Championship event presented by BAE Systems in Houston, Texas, on April 19-22 to experience the ultimate innovation celebration! At the 2023 FIRST Championship, you will work side by side with FIRST participants from around the world to help to build their leadership and problem-solving skills, their sense of belonging and self-confidence, and most importantly, help them have fun!

FIRST Championship is a culminating, international event for our youth robotics competition season and an annual celebration of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) for our community as we prepare young people for the future. 

Register to Volunteer through the FIRST Dashboard

Do you need a letter from a FIRST representative to verify your volunteerism service? This process will be slightly different whether you are an event volunteer or a coach/mentor. For event volunteers, reach out to your local volunteer coordinator or FIRST Program Delivery Partner for a letter to verify your hours. For coaches/mentors, reach out to the Lead coach/mentor 1 or 2 on your team for a letter to verify your hours.