Announcements

AAmy

April 14, 2026

GearUp Robotics Project - Five kits. Many students. Endless impact.

🚀 Project Overview: Expanding Access to Robotics Education

We are a student team (Team Hexa-Gears, #74706) participating in the FIRST LEGO League (FLL), and we are passionate about bringing robotics and coding to more kids in our community.

This spring, we partnered with a local community library to run a small robotics program. Our team members became “student instructors,” teaching younger kids how to build and program using LEGO SPIKE Prime.

The results were amazing:

  • Younger students were more engaged learning from older kids

  • Our team members built confidence, leadership, and communication skills

  • Families discovered a fun and approachable way to explore STEM

However, we ran into one major challenge:
💡 Each student had to purchase their own robotics kit (~$440), which limited participation to just 6 students.

🌱 Our Goal

We want to remove that barrier.

We are raising $3,500 to purchase shared LEGO SPIKE Prime kits, so students can participate without needing to buy their own equipment.

📚 What This Enables

With shared kits, we can:

  • Run small-group, hands-on classes

  • Teach 5 students per session

  • Reach up to 35 students across 7 sessions

That’s nearly 6x more impact with the same teaching effort.

💡 Why This Matters Now

  • LEGO SPIKE Prime will be discontinued in 2026

  • The FIRST LEGO League program is transitioning to new systems

  • This is a unique window to help more students access robotics before costs and barriers increase

🌍 Community Impact

Your support helps:

  • Lower the barrier to STEM education

  • Empower kids to become creators, not just consumers

  • Build a “kids teaching kids” learning culture

  • Train young leaders through teaching and mentorship

🙌 How Your Donation Helps

Every dollar goes directly toward:

  • Purchasing shared robotics kits

  • Maintaining and replacing parts

  • Supporting hands-on learning materials

These kits will be reused to benefit many future students in our community.

💛 Join Us

This project isn’t just about robots.

It’s about giving more kids the chance to explore, build, and believe:
“I can do this.”

Thank you for helping us make that possible.