RPA receives Oregon FIRST robotics grant

The Redmond Proficiency Academy was recently awarded $3,000 by the Oregon Department of Education for use in its Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education program and to compete in a FIRST-sponsored competitive robotics event.

This is RPA’s third year participating in the program. Josh White, the team instructor said, “This grant comes at an exciting time for our robotics program. We will now be able to fund and sustain two teams of students to represent RPA at a time when the FTC Robotics league is rapidly expanding in Central Oregon.”

“This November we will be participating in the inaugural FTC Robotics competition being held at the Redmond Fairgrounds that will help the students to form valuable connections with other teams and mentors from the area and provide an opportunity to show off their talents.”

Dean Kamen, founder of the FIRST program, said “the goal of FIRST is to transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology leaders.”

FIRST provides scholarship opportunities to students who participate in the program, as many colleges and universities, professional associations, and corporations offer college scholarships to high school students on FIRST teams. This is official recognition of the knowledge and technical and life skills these students have gained from participating in a FIRST competition. For 2014, FIRST has
over 160 scholarship providers that are making available over 875 individual scholarship opportunities with a total value of over $16 million!