Our impact
Reaching beyond
The mission of FIRST is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders through mentor-based programs that build real skills and well-rounded lives. Students on Team 195 put thousands of hours a year into our community.
STEAM outreach
Technology education for everyone
Our STEAM outreach puts technology education within reach of everyone in our community and beyond.
- ElderKnights: a LEGO building and technology class that has taught hundreds of seniors so far
- Southington Apple Harvest Festival and Parade
- STEM For All, our free science fair, which draws hundreds of people every year
- Girls Who Code
- Girl Scout STEAM Camp
FIRST development
Giving back to the program we came from
Most of this is teams and events. Some of it is making the case for robotics where decisions get made: we brought a robotics legislation proposal to Connecticut lawmakers.
Teams we run
- 25 FIRST LEGO League teams
- 3 FTC teams, mentored by our own upperclassmen
Events we support
- The Southington Showdown, our FLL qualifier
- An FTC scrimmage
- An FRC off-season event, the CyberKnight Invitational
- Volunteering at every level of FIRST
A practice field open to every team
We build a practice field every season and open it to any team that asks. Forty-nine percent of Connecticut's FRC teams have used it.
Scouting data anyone can use
We scout every event we attend and publish the numbers while the event is still running, as a CSV and a JSON feed any team can load.
Southington and beyond
Turning up for the town
The third part of our outreach has nothing to do with robots: it is about showing up for our community and for others.
- Support for the annual Veterans Dinner and the American Legion, including booth setup and takedown
- Veterans holiday cards: over 250 handwritten and delivered
- The Southington Community Services food drive
- The Southington Pride Event
Want to be part of it?
Everything on this page runs on volunteers and on the people who support us. Bring FIRST LEGO League to your school, ask us a question, or help fund the next season.