It was 2013. I was Network Administrator for Buchanan Schools and the advisor for a “Tech Club” for high school students. We did all kinds of fun stuff and it was a great place for those geeky kids that didn’t really fit in anywhere else in school. Knowledge of our program spread and caught the attention of an FRC team in a nearby community. They pitched the idea of starting a robotics team at Buchanan. My first reaction was “wow, how cool would that be?!” But, reality set in quickly when they told me we’d need at least $10,000 to get started. That started 10 years of grant writing, begging, presenting, teaching, learning, and the most amazing competitions I’ve ever had the honor of being a part of.

I’m a huge fan of FIRST, but I am a loud advocate for change in how the system works and how much it costs. Something this amazing and life changing for students comes at a cost, but the students that need it most live in communities that cannot pay it.