Too many of our children don’t know that Black people, Africans in the Nile Valley (Egypt/Kemet, the Sudan/Nubia) and other parts of the continent, literally gave the world the forms of science and mathematics that many of them in K-12 classrooms are having difficulty mastering – partly because they believe math and science is not for them.
Certainly, learning that it was their ancestors who gave birth to those fields can boost their confidence tremendously and lead to better grades. Another confidence and results booster is the opportunity to participate in fun, science and math-based competitions that make those disciplines relatable.
That’s what the organization FIRST in Texas is all about – empowering and equipping students across Texas for success in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.
One of the ways FIRST does this is by supporting FIRST Robotics teams. And FIRST recently helped found the first such team in “the hood.”
FIRST connects with SHAPE
FIRST partnered with Third Ward’s SHAPE Community Center to get SHAPE’s after-school program participants to connect (or reconnect) with the fields their ancestors gave the world.
Spearheading this partnership is Jane Taylor, FIRST’s director of education and outreach, who directed SHAPE youth to participate in two of FIRST’s programs: the FIRST Lego League Explorer for six-to-eight-year-olds and the FIRST Lego League (4th – 8th graders)
FIRST also offers its FIRST Tech Challenge (7th – 12th grade) which involves building robots from kits, 3D printing, Java coding and more. That’s the next level SHAPE youth will graduate to eventually.
Need more Blacks involved
FIRST’s other program is the FIRST Robotics Competition, described by Taylor as the “Super Bowl of robotics.” FIRST recently held this year’s international competition at the George R. Brown Convention Center. The event attracted 60,000 attendees from 109 countries. FIRST works with over 2,000 teams in Texas alone.
“My job is to focus on the spaces of barriers,” said Taylor. “When you saw those thousands of kids at George R. Brown, It wasn’t hard to see the lack of diversity. You don’t see a lot of African Americans who are engaged.”
Taylor said FIRST has a growing population of Latinos who have definitely recognized the benefit of this pipeline from kindergarten to college via participation in FIRST, and sending them right into STEM careers. But that growth hasn’t happened with Black youth, which is one of the reasons Taylor is working with SHAPE.
“There’s a big, huge barrier in the African American community. We probably make up 2% of this international organization, and thank you Nigeria and Jamaica for making STEM a priority. Because without them, the American numbers, their numbers just don’t cut it.
“My job is to change that.”
“I got with SHAPE because Siemens, which is a local company, specifically wanted me to work with SHAPE. The first thing I did was invite them out to that big giant event that we have annually (the 2023 FIRST Robotics Competition) and make that room make sense to them and let them know what’s going on. That’s all it took. They immediately contacted us back and we were able to bring an afterschool program and one of our mentor/volunteers to them.”
Taylor’s STEM history
Taylor’s passion for FIRST began in in 2001 when she decided to coach her rookie after-school team to compete in FIRST’s LEGO® League’s MISSION TO MARSSM. J
Taylor taught middle school science in Houston Independent School District (HISD) after graduating from Lamar University in 2000 with a Bachelor of Science. She earned her Master’s in Education and she has been instrumental in creating professional robotics learning communities for FIRST LEGO® League and FIRST Tech Challenge nationally since 2004.
Over the last seven years as a Master Trainer for LEGO® Education Academy, Jane has traveled to over 33 states to instruct teachers on how to effectively use robots in the classrooms and competitions. Over the last 17 years she has served as a coach, mentor, host and cheerleader for FIRST Robotics in Houston.
FIRST Lego League Explorer
Taylor set up the FIRST Lego League Explorer program that exposes six to eight-year-olds to science, math and engineering concepts through building projects using Legos.
“It’s non-competitive, and it’s more like a science fair. The kids get a Lego kit with a Lego robot that they also build and code. They present the solution to a problem because they had to create a product and a process,” said Taylor who wants more Black parents to see the value and opportunities associated with their children connecting with STEM activities, organizations and studies.
“During one of the classes the instructor, Cheryl Willis, invited some of the staff to the class to see the
teams make their robots move for the first time,” recalled Symya Southern, SHAPE’s youth program director. “While many of the groups were busy working out some kinks, it was our youngest group–the 5- and 6-year-olds– that made their robot dance first, then offered to help the other groups. We were shocked and tickled at the faces of the older kids, who were now being instructed by their younger peers.”
SHAPE also had youth participate in the highly competitive FIRST Lego League (4th through 8th graders) where there’s an opportunity to advance to state and then advance world championship competitions. SHAPE has been affiliated with FIRST for two years, but this year has been their first with a competitive team. And though they didn’t advance to those higher competitions, Taylor is extremely optimistic about SHAPE’s FIRST group and their future.
And so is Southern.
“At our first competition, the middle school-aged group faced some unexpected technical issues during setup. It was good to see them pull together to troubleshoot and correct the issue just before the judges came around.
“The youth didn’t really know what to expect at their very first robotics competition. Walking into the competition, we could feel the excitement in the room. The youth had a moment of realization: this wasn’t just another robotics class, this was the real thing! We were there to compete,” said Southern.
And she already sees the SHAPE/FIRST relationship paying dividends.
“Even with only a couple hours a week to work on robotics, the youth are learning and excelling. I am so proud of how far they have come and all they have accomplished in a short amount of time. I’m grateful to be here and to be part of the FIRST robotics experience at SHAPE. When I look at our youth, I see endless possibilities and boundless potential.”
