New School / New Opportunity: FIRST or VEX?

[DRow]

F Elliott,

Congratulations on your newly started program, and welcome to the robotics community! It’s great that you’re expanding the reach of STEM to these at-risk students, and that your new school has already been able to secure so many grants.

As for your question regarding competing in FIRST and/or VEX, there really is no wrong option. If you are able to secure the students, money, workspace and mentors needed to succeed in FLL --> FTC --> Potentially FRC, then FIRST could be a great possibility for your school. Depending on your situation, VEX IQ Challenge and VEX Robotics Competition could be a great option also.

The VEX IQ platform allows students from as early as second grade to get their feet wet with STEM. There is free curriculum offered on the VEX IQ website that spans an entire semester. This allows students to learn the basics of building a robot, while also learning other STEM applications such as friction or traction. Without even realizing it, students will begin to apply these lessons to their robots as they advance through the program, and (hopefully) make the jump to VEX EDR as they grow older.

VEX EDR works very closely with PLTW to provide positive and successful robotics programs in schools. In addition, VEX offers free curriculum that can be run at its own pace and customized to fit your student’s needs. As your school is just now beginning its robotics program, I would recommend taking a look at classroom starter kits for both VEX IQ and EDR. Each kit teaches a small group of students or an individual the basics of robot building, while the largest IQ and EDR bundles can outfit an entire classroom of 20+ students with multiple robots.

You may not know this, but VEX is based in Greenville, Texas. Less than an hour’s drive (depending on traffic) from Dallas. VEX offers in house pick-up for all orders, so you could eliminate waiting for parts to be shipped altogether if you so wanted. Also, there are more VEX teams located in Texas than in any other state in the US. Many of which are located in the Dallas Metroplex area. Here is an interactive map if you would be interested in finding events or other teams in your area for more information.

As I said before, both programs are great for getting students interested in STEM, and ultimately you should go with whatever option best suits your situation. If you happen to have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact VEX either by phone: 903-453-0802, email: sales@vexrobotics.com, or the official VEX Forum.

Cheers,
-Dillon