April is Global Volunteer Month, a month-long celebration of volunteer service, and we want to take this opportunity to shine a light on you and all you are doing to make a difference. This season brought sweeping changes to the normal order of operations at FIRST^®. Our gratitude goes out to you as a FIRST volunteer for responding to the changes and obstacles of the season with Gracious Professionalism^®, innovation, and unflappable resolve. You continued to deliver on the mission of FIRST and your support, dedication, and vision allowed FIRST to continue to have an impact on the lives of youth around the globe. To those who cheered us on from a distance this year, we completely understand the many reasons you may not have been able to join us, and we will welcome you back when you are ready to get back in the game.

This edition of the FIRST volunteer newsletter is all about impact: the impact FIRST has on students, teams, volunteers, and the world. And that is made possible by you, the FIRST volunteer community. Thank you for all you do to champion the game and inspire the next generation of game changers!

Sincerely,
The FIRST Volunteer Resources Department

We want to take this opportunity to offer a few shoutouts for all you have done this year to make FIRST possible.

• Over 900 participants created profiles on the new FIRST Mentor Network, and volunteers have generously provided support and assistance to teams remotely. You are helping students gain the skills and confidence to forge ahead and build their future with FIRST.
• FIRST^® LEGO^® League salutes all the mighty volunteers this past year who found such wonderful and creative ways to keep the season in play for the students who wanted to be PLAYMAKERS^SM or conquer the REPLAY^SM challenges. Whatever the size and scope of the role you played, we are so grateful for your hard work, your dedication, and your incredible innovations.
• FIRST^® Tech Challenge is inspired by and deeply grateful to our event volunteers, who worked with us to create ways to support events and teams remotely, and our coaches and mentors, who found ingenious ways to meet with their teams during a time of lockdown. We would like to thank the dedicated volunteers who worked on the FIRST Tech Challenge scoring software, the Game Design Committee, and the FIRST Tech Challenge events website for contributing to our shared successes.
• FIRST^® Robotics Competition volunteers answered the call this year without hesitation, moving outside comfort zones to take on remote judging in your local areas and for the At Home Challenges. The support, flexibility, and can-do attitude of all our volunteers, regardless of experience, continues to inspire us. We are grateful for all your contributions great and small in your communities and beyond.
• Across all FIRST programs, FIRST alumni continued to pay it forward in massive ways. 25% of all registered volunteers this year are FIRST alumni, and 16% of all mentors and coaches. Your willingness to give back to FIRST shows everyone that FIRST really is life changing!

Thank you, FIRST volunteer community! You #CHAMPIONTHEGAME!

Exciting things are happening all month long to celebrate Global Volunteer Month!

FREE gift with purchase at the FIRST Store!
Make ANY purchase at the FIRST Store in the month of April and use promo code VOLUNTEER to get your FREE pair of FIRST Volunteer blue light blocking glasses! Great for virtual volunteering! (While supplies last)

Enter to win the Global Volunteer Month Raffle!
Ten lucky winners will receive:
⋅ A 2021 Christa McAuliffe Silver Dollar, a limited-edition, commemorative coin celebrating the life of Christa McAuliffe and the impact of educators everywhere.
⋅ A FIRST volunteer swag pack, including a FIRST face mask, luggage tag, patches, buttons, and stickers.

Hurry over to the FIRST Volunteer Recognition Store!
Pick up a FIRST Volunteer Year of Service pin, season-themed FIRST Coach Mentor pin, or FIRST Alumni Volunteer patch and get a free FIRST Volunteer Champion the Game button and sticker with every purchase.

>>Get your FREE gift with ANY purchase at the FIRST Store now!

"FIRST definitely makes me feel empowered, not just as a student interested in building robots, but as a human being." ~~ Tania Najnin, FIRST Student

FIRST is partnering with the Center for Youth and Communities at Brandeis University to conduct the FIRST Longitudinal Study assessing the long-term impact of participation in FIRST. New findings at 84 months continue to confirm that FIRST is making an impact on participating students. In fact, FIRST participants are about two times more likely to report gains in STEM identity, STEM interest, STEM career interest, STEM activity, and STEM knowledge than the comparison group. These impacts are significant for all participants, including girls and young women, historically underrepresented racial groups, and those from economically disadvantaged communities and rural and urban settings.

The longitudinal study is providing evidence that FIRST has lasting impacts for participating students, regardless of their background. As a FIRST volunteer, your contribution to the mission of FIRST is significant. You are inspiring a generation of global citizens and helping them realize their power to build a better future.

>>Read more about the impact made possible by FIRST volunteers

Nancy Boyer’s tenure at FIRST has brought fundamental and game-changing significance to how FIRST operates. Since joining the team at HQ in 2011, Nancy has developed the evaluation and data analytics capacity at FIRST, built out crucial equity, diversity, and inclusion strategies and function, and led the data governance work that ensures FIRST has a strong privacy protection program. Nancy’s leadership of the FIRST Research and Evaluation Department makes it possible for us to monitor the experience and impact of FIRST programs on students, mentors, coaches, and volunteers. That data is then used to improve our programs, deepen the impact FIRST has on participants, and ignite new strategies and initiatives.

>>Meet Nancy and learn what's new with the Research and Evaluation team at FIRST

Volunteers had a new way to connect with FIRST teams this season, through the FIRST Mentor Network, sponsored by NI. The FIRST Mentor Network is an interactive platform allowing teams and interested mentors to easily find each other for virtual (or eventual face-to-face) mentorship. When Kate Sample’s FIRST Robotics Competition team, the Botcats, in Pembroke Pines, FL, tripled in size, she used the FIRST Mentor Network to quickly connect with Cam Hallett, a FIRST alum and volunteer, for additional mentor support. Though separated by many miles, Cam was able to work with the Botcats remotely, helping students further their skills in programming, design, CAD, public speaking, scholarship and resume building, and content development. Kate also responded to requests from other teams and provided support. She says, “This has been such a great way to learn and connect with others in FIRST through virtual platforms.” It has been a win-win for teams and volunteers!

Read on to learn more about Kate and Cam’s story, their mentor connection, and how they have been impacting teams at home and around the globe through virtual volunteering opportunities this season.

>>Meet Kate and Cam

Join the thousands of mentors, coaches, and volunteers who have already taken these free trainings available now:

• Volunteering with FIRST
  • An introductory learning module that explores what FIRST is and what it means to volunteer with FIRST
• Remote Mentoring with FIRST
  • A brief simulation training that explores the fundamentals of remote meetings for mentors and coaches
• Strategies for Inspiring Success for All
  • Modules with engaging and reflective activities that will equip us with strategies to create diverse, inclusive, and equitable participation, engagement, and success

Watch for more trainings coming soon.

Whether you’ve been an active volunteer this season or have been cheering from the sidelines, you make an impact as a FIRST volunteer. Thank you for supporting FIRST and investing in our future. If you’re looking for more ways to further your impact as a FIRST volunteer, read on:

• Are you or someone you know interested in becoming more involved with FIRST on a full-time basis? FIRST AmeriCorps VISTA members work to build the capacity of FIRST by focusing on impacting underserved and underrepresented populations across the USA. Check out the FIRST AmeriCorps VISTA Program and learn how to apply by visiting firstinspires.org/vista.
  • Read about the impact of one of our FIRST VISTA members: Meet FIRST VISTA Angel Jones
    
    
• FIRST is looking for students ages 16 and up who are interested in making a difference in the areas of equity, diversity, and inclusion. Applications are now open for the FIRST ED&I Youth Advisory Committee and are due April 14th by 8:00 PM ET. The committee will be selected by the end of April and will begin meeting in June 2021. If you know someone who would be a great fit, please share this opportunity to help elevate the youth voice at FIRST. Apply today!
  
  
• This year, we’ve seen increasing numbers of volunteers choosing to donate to support the mission of FIRST. Those gifts help us sustain the organization through these challenging times, empower more kids to be young leaders and innovators, and make FIRST more widely available to students across the country and throughout the world. Find out how you can help.

If this is the first time you’re receiving this newsletter and you enjoyed this issue, subscribe here to make sure you receive upcoming editions. The FIRST Volunteer Newsletter is sent four times a year. If you have any questions, please email us. We love hearing from you.

Thank you for being a FIRST volunteer!