Collaborating Across Borders with FIRST Israel

November 30, 2020

FIRST robotics has touched all corners of the world. These global robotic leagues have inspired students to realize their potential through STEM and robotics. Many of our students are not only exposed to the world of engineering and robotics, but they uncover the varied interests and skills they possess. They gain access to high quality, inspiring, and rigorous robotic leagues and STEM education.

Over the summer, our NYC FIRST community connected with FIRST Israel Dimona students. This collaboration encouraged students to build relationships beyond borders, empower and enable them to share their stories - especially under restricted circumstances and obstacles arising from the pandemic. 

During our zoom session, students highlighted the importance of “more than robots”. They focused on how they leveraged their STEM skills to solve real-world problems and utilized their core values to solve problems big and small within their communities. One of the FIRST Israel Dimona team members shared how they raised funds to build a playground for students of special needs. From our own community, Farrah Leto a graduate from the Cornell Tech STEM Center, and a recent intern for NYC FIRST, shared about the interns building tutorials, helping students from anywhere in the world.



We also leveraged our skills to brainstorm how inventors can spread ideas in a trendy way by brainstorming and sketching mock-ups. Each team learned from each other’s global perspective, cultural background, and STEM experiences. This global meetup is only the first of many more to come!