FAQ

The purpose of the FIRST® Youth Protection Program (FIRST® YPP) is to provide Coaches, Mentors, Volunteers, employees, others working in FIRST® programs, team members, parents, and guardians of team members with information, guidelines, and procedures to create safe environments for everyone participating in FIRST® programs.

The FIRST® YPP sets minimum standards recommended for all FIRST® activities. Adults working in FIRST® programs must be knowledgeable of the standards set by the FIRST® YPP, as well as those set by the school or organization hosting their team.

FIRST® expects all teams in the United States and Canada to adhere to all provisions of the FIRST® YPP.

The STEM Robotics 101 professional development program is a two-day introductory workshop in which teachers learn how to build and program the LEGO® MINDSTORMS® EV3 robot and utilize/customize the rich set of Robotics 101 resources. Teachers work in pairs (just like their students) with the provided kits, robots and computers. Each teacher leaves equipped with software and the curriculum resources they need to customize a STEM robotics course to meet the needs of their students and goals of their administrators.

The Computer Science Education iGrant provided funding to launch the STEM Robotics 101 professional development program in the spring of 2016. Since then, over 35 two-day Robotics 101 Introductory workshops have been held at 15 sites statewide.

There are also several one-day advanced topics/coaching sessions for introductory professional development graduates, offered in partnership with educational service districts around the state.

The one-day advanced topics professional development includes Advanced LEGO® Programming, Robo-Math, Robo-Science, Data Logging, Technology-demystification lessons, Java Programming on LEGO® MINDSTORMS®, and FIRST® LEGO® Primers.

Professional development participants learn about the STEM Robotics 101 Lesson Bounty Program, which seeks to harvest the innovations of Washington teachers who too often are isolated in their own classroom. The Robotics 101 Lesson Bounty program seeks to harvest this creative work by providing a stipend for Washington CS/STEM teachers to take the time to document and share complete new lessons for STEM Robotics 101 which they have created for their own class.

STEM Robotics 101 is a free CS/STEM curriculum for new Robotics teachers developed by the Olympia School District (OSD) and deployed worldwide with the help of two National Science Foundation Projects to more than 3,700 registered teacher-users. Robo101 enables teachers to customize an approachable CS/STEM curriculum that plays to their unique strengths, while also meeting the individual needs of their students and goals of their school administrators.

Based on the LEGO® MINDSTORMS® robotics kits, STEM Robotics 101 was featured at the NCCE conference in Seattle, and this Interview with the NCCE Blog team provides insight into the history and goals of Robo101.

We will be hosting STEM Robotics 101 Intro Professional Development workshops at all 9 ESD’s and the FIRST®  Washington Fieldhouse in Kent.

You can find event details on our calendar here.

The registration fee for the two-day STEM Robotics 101 Introductory Workshop is $395. You may be eligible for grant or scholarship funding.

If your robotics team received a FIRST® Washington iGrant from OPSI this year, these funds may be used to pay for the STEM Robotics 101 Introductory Workshop. (Professional development is an allowable expense for these grants.)

Partial scholarships are available for teachers impacting high under-represented student populations. Demographic information is requested during registration to determine a school’s tier for Robotic 101. Tier 1 teachers pay a net $195 registration and Tier 2 teachers $295.

The registration fee includes:
• The two-day hands-on professional development with an experienced instructor (computers, software, and robots supplied)
• OSPI-certified STEM clock hours for certification purposes
• Free OSPI-approved model framework/leadership equivalency and standards alignment
• A free turn-key, customizable curriculum repository
• A one-time 5% discount off the best internet volume pricing on a classroom set of LEGO® MINDSTORMS® EV3 kits and accessories
• Eligibility for STEM Robotics 101 Lesson Bounty Program, with a teacher-stipend for adding new lessons to STEM Robotics 101
• Eligibility for advanced topics professional development, including Advanced LEGO® Programming, Robo-Math, Robo-Science, Data Logging, Technology-demystification lessons, Java Programming on LEGO® MINDSTORMS® EV3 and FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge Primers

Yes. The STEM Robotics 101 professional development program was the first professional development program in Washington certified as “STEM clock hours” for teacher certification purposes. Participants attending the STEM Robotics 101 Introductory two-day workshop will earn 12 STEM clock hours, administrated through ESD 112.

The Computer Science Education Grant program was designed to “introduce and engage students from historically underrepresented groups, including girls, low-income students, and minority students, to computer science and to inspire them to enter computer science careers”.

To this end, the STEM Robotics 101 Professional Development program will prioritize participation and financial assistance into three tiers to serve this objective:

The Computer Science Education Grant program was designed to “introduce and engage students from historically underrepresented groups, including girls, low-income students, and minority students, to computer science and to inspire them to enter computer science careers.”

The STEM Robotics 101 Professional Development program prioritizes participation and financial assistance into three tiers to serve this objective:

Tier 1: Available to teachers who teach students from the most under-represented CS/STEM populations:
1. Teachers of Mandatory STEM Robotics 101 Enrichment Classes (100% participation of girls)
2. Teachers from Alternative Learning Experience Classes
3. Teachers from Special Education Classes
4. Teachers from schools in the highest quartile statewide (as determined by OSPI’s 2016/17 Washington State Report Card) for:
a) Free or reduced-price meals population rate >60%
b) Transitional/Bilingual population rate >15%
c) Non-White/non-Asian population rate >50%
Teachers from Tier 1 will be given the highest priority for professional development training slots and a $200 registration scholarship, reducing the 2-day STEM Robotics 101 Introductory Workshop fee to $195.

Tier 2: Available to teachers who teach students from high under-represented CS/STEM populations. Teachers from schools in the second-highest quartile statewide (as determined by OSPI’s 2016/17Washington State Report Card) for:
a) Free or reduced-price meals population rate >45%
b) Transitional/Bilingual population rate >10%
c) Non-White/non-Asian population rate >33%

Teachers from Tier 2 will be given second-highest priority for professional development training slots and a $100 registration scholarship, reducing the 2-day STEM Robotics 101 Introductory Workshop fee to $295.

Tier 3: All other public/private school teachers.

Teachers from Tier 3 will be given priority for professional development training slots on a first-come-first-served basis after Tier 1 and Tier 2 teachers are allocated slots. Tier 3 teachers will be given no additional financial assistance, but they will receive all the benefits listed in the previous FAQ.

Interested applicants should register as soon as possible. Please be sure to complete the optional section at the end of the form if you are interested in qualifying for Tier 1 or Tier 2 scholarships.

Applications will be prioritized as described in the previous FAQ and applicants/principals will be notified of their status, any available tiered scholarships, and how to complete the final registrations (including payment of fee). A letter of support from the principal will be required as part of this final registration process.

The start-up costs for a STEM Robotics 101 classroom is about $225 per seat.

This cost estimate assumes:
1. Two students per robotics kit (ideal ratio)
2. Classroom has access to computers – Mac, PC or iPads/Chromebooks – that are less than 6 years old
3. Classroom licenses for programming and tutorial software
4. Classroom Challenge supplies
5. Teacher has completed the STEM Robotics 101 Introductory Workshop and is eligible for one-time start-up discounts (5% on kits/software from LEGO® Education.

FIRST® Washington is beginning to work on a program to help support Tier 1 and Tier 2 free or reduced-price meals schools with their classroom start-up costs. If start-up costs are a barrier for your participation as a Tier 1 or Tier 2 school, please contact FIRST® Washington, info@firstwa.org.

Please contact FIRST^® Washington at info@firstwa.org

Randy Steele of R&D Consulting (R_Dconsulting@comcast.net) will be the instructor for the STEM Robotics 101 Introductory PD.  Randy has been a STEM Education Consultant and the CTE STEM Coach for the Olympia School District since 2010. He is the primary author and curator of the STEM Robotics 101 curriculum site.

Randy entered STEM education as an “empty-nest” career following two decades as a computer chip designer and engineering manager at Intel and ST Microelectronics.  He has coached/mentored several teams for FLL Challenge, FTC and FRC competitions and has trained hundreds of Washington teachers on STEM Robotics 101.

Randy has a B.A.Sc. in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Management Sciences, a Washington State Residency Certificate in middle and high school math, and a Washington State CTE Certificate in STEM Technology, Computer Technology, Electronics and Engineering. Randy is also the inventor on 30 U.S. patents in the field of computer chip design.