High school age-students can participate in the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) program. Guided by adult mentors and utilizing engineering principles, they will design and build a robot powered by android technology, using Java-based programming for coding. They will operate their robot in a head-to-head challenge, in an alliance format at competitions against local teams. Students will be fiscally responsible for their team’s funds, participate in community outreach and will also design and market their team. Students participating in FTC are eligible for exclusive FIRST scholarships at many colleges and universities.
Teams can be made of up of 15 students in grades 7-12 and 2 adult coaches. Mentors are strongly encouraged. Time Commitment generally 4-6 hours a week, September to March.
FTC is More than Robots®️. Students are responsible for marketing their team, building a website, fundraising and community outreach in addition to building a robot. No technical skills are required to join a FTC team, just a willingness to learn.