Dear FIRST^® Community,

With the recent season kickoff of FIRST^® GAME CHANGERS^SM, powered by Star Wars: Force for Change, the FIRST community has rallied to support our student participants. This season, we set out to redefine the game and revolutionize the way we play and move, and that’s happening in more ways than one. Everyone at FIRST is working hard to anticipate and navigate this uncertain time to ensure we’ll be able to provide every student participant a valuable, enjoyable experience, regardless of learning environment this season.

Many of us – including educators, teams, mentors/coaches, volunteers, and partners – need additional time and flexibility to start build seasons and prepare for local and remote events. To accommodate those needs, FIRST is extending our 2020-2021 event season for all programs through the end of June 2021 and moving the 2021 FIRST Championship from April 2021 to later in the year. The new timelines for the 2021 FIRST Championship are:

• Mid-July: Houston, Texas

• Early-August: Detroit, Michigan

As always, we’re keeping the safety and wellbeing of our community as our top priority and will continue to evaluate the scale and viability of FIRST Championship events in the months ahead. As a result, we may need to make further adjustments to FIRST Championship, including adjusting invitation and attendance criteria to allow for event scaling. We will share more details on the 2021 FIRST Championship, including specific dates, as they become available. Read frequently asked questions about 2021 FIRST Championship.

In certain areas, FIRST Program Delivery Partners may schedule events, both remote and in-person, later in the season than a typical year as part of our season extension. Contact your local FIRST Partner for the latest information about FIRST programs in your region.

As previously announced, we’re excited to launch the FIRST Remote Event Hub this fall as an event option for FIRST^® LEGO^® League and FIRST^® Tech Challenge. It will make the experience as close as possible to a traditional FIRST program event for teams and volunteers, with the necessary modifications to accommodate a remote environment. Registration for those programs is open, and teams can get into the game at firstinspires.org or by contacting their local FIRST Partner. More information about the FIRST^® Robotics Competition season will be available when registration opens.

We hope that you will join us as we explore new and exciting ways to deliver our programs with your safety and wellbeing as our top priority.

Dear FIRST^® Coach/Mentor,

Like you, we’re preparing for the launch of a new school year and FIRST season against the backdrop of many uncertainties presented by the global pandemic. This means the way we market and deliver our programs will look a bit different. With that in mind, we’re excited to provide a new tool for our community that showcases the power of FIRST programs: the FIRST Robotics Virtual Reality Experience Powered by Boeing, a 360 video allowing viewers to see first-hand the life-changing impacts and excitement of FIRST.

This immersive virtual reality experience allows viewers to explore FIRST through a tailored, first-hand account, as Haley, a FIRST^® Robotics Competition participant, and Heidi, a superintendent and FIRST coach, share their personal experiences while highlighting the amazing benefits of FIRST^® LEGO^® League, FIRST^® Tech Challenge, and FIRST Robotics Competition.

Last year, we began developing this tool to coincide with a direct mail campaign to drive interest in FIRST with superintendents and school administrators across the country. However, with disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve decided to postpone the launch until sometime later this school year. Since the tool had already been created, though, we wanted to offer it to the community to support retention and engagement when in many regions it is impossible to demonstrate the impact of FIRST through event invitations.

While for now many of us continue to social distance, this video is an opportunity to remind your current and prospective participants what FIRST has to offer once we are able to meet again in person.

We’ve provided guidance on how to access this tool below. Please feel free to share this unique opportunity within your own networks!

If you have questions or are experiencing difficulties while trying to access the video, please email us at marketing@firstinspires.org.

Best,

FIRST

Accessing the FIRST VR Experience:

Microsite: The full microsite experience can be viewed by clicking the above button or visiting firstinspires.org/vr. While we recommend viewing the virtual reality experience with an Oculus, Google Cardboard, or other VR headset for the full experience, the video can be accessed directly on your desktop or mobile device (click/scroll to view in 360). We ask that you share this link in any digital promotions as it provides additional context about FIRST.

YouTube: A YouTube version of the video can be accessed here.