'New 4-H team will compete in robotics' Article

[Hallry]

I was looking through Google News and again stumbled upon a FIRST-article, this time about 10 new University of Illinois Extension 4-H FRC teams being created through a partnership with FIRST and sponsorship from JCPenney. It was published on the WJBC radio station webpage, which is broadcasted in central Illinois.

Quick Summary:

Through a partnership with FIRST and with funding from JCPenney, the University of Illinois Extension is starting 10 new 4-H teams that will be competing and participating in that competition this spring.

Those teams will be promoted locally through Extension offices, a website and Facebook page. They are located all over the state, from Alton to Rockford, and everywhere in between.

“Four-H FRC teams create an opportunity for a very high level experience in science, engineering and technology, but of equal importance and benefit is what they create as an opportunity for positive youth development, and all of those things that 4-H has been doing for a long time, and that is positioning youth as leaders where they are really driving their own learning based on their interests and excelling towards the highest level of mastery and independence of being a part of something bigger where they are belonging to a group and feeling a connectedness to a larger community,” said Diaz.

All kids who participate in an FRC team or a FIRST event also have access to college scholarships that have been created by a variety of donors. This year alone, between the two high school competitions, there is almost$15 million in college scholarships that is only available to students who participate in the events.

“It really does open all kinds of doors for kids’ futures,” said Diaz.

You can read it for yourself here. Good luck to those new teams, and congrats to FIRST for the press!