“When it comes to science, technology, engineering and math, the Valley is United,” Jason Arms, Chief Executive Officer, FIRST®-RGV
By Roberto Hugo Gonzalez
As originally published by Texas Border Business newsprint edition March 2017.
The first time I heard about the School Robotics program, was through an invitation by Jason Arms, MCSE/ITPM/EMC. He is the Director of Innovation and Technology for the City of Pharr, Texas.
At the time, Jason was promoting one of the City of Pharr signature programs FIRST-RGV Robotics. This is a nonprofit entity comprised by a group of professionals, mentors and various volunteers from science, technology and engineering careers.
The goal is to help students at all grade levels to explore the amazing power of a STEM career. The mission is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills.
Just a few weeks ago, the City of Pharr and the PSJA ISD were about to host the 2017 First Tech Challenge (FTC) Robotics Championship competition. This took place on February 4, 2017 at, PSJA Southwest High School.
The second time I heard about this program, was through Texas Border Business Guest Writer Mike Willis. He is the president of South Texas Manufacturers Association. Mike stated that they are supportive of this outstanding national program that has grown across the Rio Grande Valley.
According to Jason, all this activity started back in 1994 with an American engineer, inventor, and businessman Dean L. Kamen. He is most known for his invention of the Segway scooter.
“The purpose,” he said. “Is to get kids involved with science, technology, engineering and math by giving them an opportunity to have fun in robotics.” He continued, “First Robotics is the first robotics program to be partnered with University Interscholastic League (UIL). Because of this partnership, First Robotics is now a sport,” he said.
The robotic program is without a doubt much bigger than it what was intended to be, since more than 500 students from grades 6 – 12 enrolled in the FIRST-RGV robotics program since September 2016.
“This is the first robotics competition in the Rio Grande Valley and the second year that we’ve had it.”
The success of the program is palpable, during the February 4, 2017, meet, about 30 teams participated in the competition, out of the total of 52 registered in the program. “We are running robots, and we are inspiring kids for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education,” Jason stated.
How is Pharr connected to this event? “The City of Pharr and through Mayor Ambrosio Hernandez, MD has pledged to support not just the Pharr community with STEM opportunities but also the entire region by sponsoring programs such as First Robotics.”
Are there any other schools participating with Pharr in this event? “Yes, we have a lot of school districts involved. McAllen ISD, Harlingen ISD, PSJA ISD, Sharyland, Mission, La Joya, almost 26 school districts here in the valley that is part of this program.”
What about the University of Texas RGV? “We are proud to be sponsored along with UTRGV with their Texas Manufacturing Association and STC with their Festo Certified Training Center, which is the first program in the nation.” The University of Texas RGV had its representative Milly Hernandez, program coordinator with UTRGV College of Engineering and the Chief Operating Officer of First RGV.
What exactly you are doing here today? “The competition is the second part of the qualifiers for the First Technical Challenge of the Robotics competition, which is in short FTC.” She said, “We are bringing all the teams to compete so they can start qualifying and advance, and getting them ready for the regionals in San Antonio, Texas.”
According to Milly, the competition was named First Technical Challenge Robotics Competition. “We are in our third year. It has grown from last year, it has three times the amount of schools participating,” she stated.
How many teams do you have here? “About 30 teams today. Each team should have about ten students so more than 300 students right now.” Milly corroborated that the City of Pharr is the champion of First RGV. “They are the ones that have been championing the program for the last three years, and it’s a partnership between the City of Pharr, the Pharr IT Department, and UTRGV.” She said, “We are all in collaboration to make this happen, and we are under the region of Alamo First in San Antonio. We are not a region in this field of robotics yet. We are a sub region for San Antonio,” she said.
There you have it, Pharr is leading the way providing transformative programs for the youth. The efforts of the City of Pharr, FIRST-RGV Robotics, and PSJA ISD to host the 2017 FIRST FTC Robotics Championship on Feb 4, 2017, was in preparation for a larger competition in San Antonio that also took place last month. Jason was excited when he stated, “San Antonio. That’s big. That’s almost 87 teams coming out of their individual regions to advance to the overall competition for the state title.”
That event took place on February 23-25, 2017. “It was great to see all the students with great positive attitudes. All the Valley teams rallied together and helped each other out during the competition. They supported each other and some of them even worked during the night together to make their robots better for the next competition. Their collaboration was awesome!
Unfortunately, all of our teams got eliminated by Saturday morning. But, I will tell you that it didn’t break our Valley teams’ spirits! They were more motivated and said that now they know what to expect for next year. They will prepare accordingly and come back with a vengeance! We are very proud of all the Valley teams! We look forward to the upcoming season and we know that it will be an even better one!” stated Milly Hernandez, Program Coordinator, TMAC.
Nevertheless, the Valley students are getting better and better and eager to participate. Jason said that FIRST Robotics is in 47 countries around the world and incorporate more than 250,000 students in four programs that are a progression in difficulty starting with Kindergarten age and ending with the graduation of students in high school. The good news about all of this is that FIRST Robotics issues more than twenty-two million in scholarships annually; exclusively to those that have been part of the FIRST Robotics program.
The City of Pharr, through Jason, its representative in technology is in the process of setting up a bi-national event with Mexico in the Rio Grande Valley. “We are inviting teams from Mexico to come over and compete against our top five teams on March 25th, during and as part of the Pharr HubFestival.
It is important to say, that according to the Texas State Historical Association, that in 1915, Pharr hit 600 in population. Mexican students were attending classes at the six-grade East Juárez school. When the site for the school moved, it became known as Pharr Grammar School for Mexican Children. Separate facilities for junior and senior high school students were not provided because Mexican children were not expected to get beyond grammar school.
Things have changed, today, the City of Pharr has a medical doctor surgeon as the mayor. Mayor Ambrosio Hernandez, MD recognizes the importance of education and provides the tools for a younger generation to get inspired to be more. Most of Mayor Hernandez’ team are college graduates, and with the FIRST-RGV Robotics programs, he believes in transforming young generations in less than ten years. TBB
