Students urge Ames district to expand support for FIRST robotics and LEGO League

Students representing FIRST programs addressed the board during the public forum, asking the Ames Community School District for help expanding access to FIRST LEGO League and FIRST Robotics opportunities.

John (a student speaker) described FIRST programming for K–12 — Explore for early grades, FLL Challenge for grades 4–8, and FIRST Robotics for high school — and said the programs build teamwork, communication, resilience and engineering skills. “FIRST builds essential life skills including problem solving, communication, empathy and resilience,” John said.

Rain, a FLL mentor and student, told the board that awareness is the biggest barrier at the elementary level: many teachers, staff and parents do not know how students can join, and elementary schools often lack account structures to manage fundraising. Rain asked the district to improve communication about FLL, identify a contact person at every elementary school, and continue to provide meeting and storage space for teams.

Laura, representing Team Neutrino, thanked the board for continued access to the AIM Center and said the facility made a “huge difference” this season. She reported that Team Neutrino won a regional event for the first time in four years and competed at the FIRST World Championships in Houston in April.

Students’ requested supports were specific: district‑wide communications about FLL programs, a named contact at each elementary school to share information and recruit volunteer mentors, and continued access to district facilities for team meetings and storage. Board members thanked the students and closed the public forum before moving to the consent agenda.

The students’ presentation did not result in an immediate vote; staff and board have not adopted a formal district policy or budget change at this meeting in response to the request.