Category: School-Business Partnerships of Long Island

(Kings Park, NY) — School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc. (SBPLI) DBA FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Long Island is announcing that March is Expanding Girls’ Horizons in Science and Engineering Month and is urging girls to get involved in robotics. The group says this will help them become more interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) throughout their educational careers.

Expanding Girls’ Horizons in Science and Engineering Month was created by the Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) Network, a not-for-profit organization that encourages young women to pursue careers in STEM. According to the EYH Network, girls become most interested in these areas of study when they are in middle school.

A recent study from U.S. FIRST followed alumni in the first 72 months after completing its programs. Its results showed that STEM had a greater impact on women than their male counterparts. Further, the study found that, in the first three years in college, the percentage of female FIRST alumni taking engineering increased from 28% in Year One to 35% in Year Three. By the third year in college, the gender gap in declared engineering majors closed, with 51% of female and 51% of male FIRST alumni majoring in that field.

SBPLI has seen an increase in girls enrolling in its FIRST robotics programs. Girl Scout troops and all girls’ community groups formed teams in the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) while in elementary school. Many of them continue to participate in FLL in middle school and FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) and the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) in high school.

“SBPLI has encouraged girls at an early age to become involved in robotics,” said Bertram Dittmar, Executive Director, SBPLI. “Our robotics programs allow these young women to excel in STEM and generate interest in the field when they enter college. It also opens the door for them to land engineering jobs once they graduate.”

KINGS PARK, NEW YORK — School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc. (SBPLI) DBA FIRST^® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Long Island, has announced it is celebrating Engineers Week, which will be held on February 21-27, by continuing to offer its robotics programs for students ages 6 to 18. SBPLI said that the programs and the competitions have provided an opportunity for the organization to create a future generation of engineers on Long Island.

Founded by the National Society of Professional Engineers (NPSE) in 1951, Engineers Week is dedicated to ensuring a diverse and well-educated future engineering workforce by increasing understanding of and interest in engineering and technology careers. This special occasion usually falls on the same week when high school robotics teams deliver and drop off their robots to the FIRST Robotics Competition Long Island Regional. However, since last year, the in-person tournament has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and has switched to a set of virtual challenges.

SBPLI has hosted tournaments for the FIRST LEGO League, FIRST Tech Challenge and FIRST Robotics Competition. Ever since SBPLI held its first robotics competition in 1999 at Suffolk County Community College, more than 20,000 Long Island students have experienced programs rooted in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) with an emphasis on “learning and implementing.”

U.S. FIRST and Brandeis University conducted a study showing that, compared to 59% of students who only took science and technology classes but were not involved in FIRST programs, 89% of FIRST alumni declared a major in STEM by the time they were in tenth grade. The study also showed that, by the time they became sophomores, 70% of FIRST alumni declared a major in engineering or computer science, whereas only 25% of non-FIRST participants did so.

“The purpose of these competitions is to not only get children interested in engineering and technology at an early age, but to have them continue that interest throughout their educational careers and obtain good-paying jobs here on Long Island upon graduating college,” said Bertram Dittmar, Executive Director, SBPLI.

It’s been said that engineers are in high demand. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the job growth rate for engineers in New York State throughout 2028 is expected to be 4.8%, with the median annual salary being $91,090. Mr. Dittmar said the FIRST Long Island robotics programs create a pipeline of future engineers that help companies meet the demand.

“Over the years, we have FIRST alumni who have performed internships with local technology companies during high school and college,” Mr. Dittmar said. “After they graduated college, some of them had jobs waiting for them at the same places where they interned. This shows SBPLI’s commitment to keeping the best and brightest employed here on Long Island.”

For more information, please visit www.sbpli-lifirst.org.

 

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About FIRST^®
Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST^® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. Based in Manchester, N.H., FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, and engineering. With support from over 200 of the Fortune 500 companies and more than $30 million in college scholarships, the not-for-profit organization hosts the FIRST^® Robotics Competition for students in Grades 9-12; FIRST^® Tech Challenge for Grades 7-12; FIRST^® LEGO^® League for Grades 4-8; and FIRST^® LEGO^® League Jr. for Grades K-4. Gracious Professionalism^® is a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community. To learn more about FIRST^®, go to www.firstinspires.org.

 

About School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc.
School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc. (SBPLI) DBA FIRST^® Long Island is a fully volunteer-run 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1984 by Fred Breithut with the goal of developing partnerships between local high schools and businesses. His goal was to provide students with practical experience and curriculum development, while helping the business community develop its future workforce, which resulted in the formation of over 100 partnerships. In 1999, SBPLI brought the FIRST^® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) to Long Island, which featured just eight FIRST^® Robotics Competition high school teams. Since then, the Long Island Regional FIRST^® Robotics Competition has grown to two events with over 80 teams competing each year. SBPLI also hosts Long Island’s annual FIRST^® LEGO League Qualifying and Championship Tournaments and the FIRST^® LEGO League Junior Expos, in which over 2,000 elementary and middle school students from Nassau and Suffolk Counties take part each year. In 2016, SBPLI added the FIRST^® Tech Challenge to its roster of programs. For more information about the programs, or to learn how to become a sponsor, visit www.sbpli-lifirst.org.

KINGS PARK, NEW YORK — School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc. DBA FIRST^® Long Island, has announced that FIRST (for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) has transitioned to three new divisions in FIRST LEGO League: Discover (pre-K to first grade), Explore (grades 2-4) and Challenge (grades 4-8).

Discover, for children ages 4 to 6, is a playful introductory STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) program that ignites their natural curiosity and builds their habits of learning with hands-on activities in the classroom and at home using LEGO^® DUPLO^® bricks.

In Explore, teams of students ages 6-10 focus on the fundamentals of engineering as they explore real-world problems, learn to design and code and create unique solutions made with LEGO bricks and powered by LEGO^® Education WeDo 2.0.

Friendly competition is at the heart of Challenge, as teams of students ages 9-14 engage in research, problem-solving, coding and engineering — building and programming a LEGO^® Education SPIKE™ Prime of LEGO MINDSTORMS^® robot that navigates the missions of a robot game. As part of Challenge, teams also participate in a research project to identify and solve a relevant real-world problem.

FIRST LEGO League has released the challenges for the 2020-21 season: PLAYMAKERS^SM for Discover, and Explore, and RePLAY^SM, for the Challenge Division. This season, students are stepping into the world of sports, play and fitness — moving, collaborating, competing and celebrating. They will explore the activities we can do in different spaces for play and how we can ensure that our games and activities are fun and accessible for everyone involved.

FIRST Long Island is excited about the three divisions. “They will inspire youth to experiment and grow their critical thinking, coding and design skills through hands-on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) learning and robotics,” FIRST said in a statement.

For more information please visit www.sbpli-lifirst.org. 

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About FIRST^® LEGO League:
FIRST LEGO League introduces science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to children ages 4-16* through fun, exciting hands-on learning. FIRST LEGO League participants gain real-world problem-solving experiences through a guided, global robotics program, helping today’s students and teachers build a better future together. In FIRST LEGO League, students engage in hands-on STEM experiences, building confidence, growing their knowledge and developing habits of learning. FIRST LEGO League’s three divisions inspire youth to experiment and grow their critical thinking, coding and design skills through hands-on STEM learning and robotics.

FIRST LEGO League Discover – PreK- Grade 1:
For children ages 4-6, this playful introductory STEM program ignites their natural curiosity and builds their habits of learning with hands-on activities in the classroom and at home using LEGO^® Duplo bricks.

FIRST LEGO League Explore – Grades 2-4:
In Explore, teams of students ages 6-10 focus on the fundamentals of engineering as they explore real-world problems, learn to design and code and create unique solutions made with LEGO bricks and powered by LEGO Education WeDo 2.0.

FIRST LEGO League Challenge – Grades 4-8:
Friendly competition is at the heart of Challenge, as teams of students ages 9-16* engage in research, problem-solving, coding and engineering – building and programming a LEGO robot that navigates the missions of a robot game. As part of Challenge, teams also participate in a research project to identify and solve a relevant real-world problem.

About FIRST^®
Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST^® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. Based in Manchester, N.H., FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, and engineering. With support from over 200 of the Fortune 500 companies and more than $30 million in college scholarships, the not-for-profit organization hosts the FIRST^® Robotics Competition for students in Grades 9-12; FIRST^® Tech Challenge for Grades 7-12; FIRST^® LEGO^® League for Grades 4-8; and FIRST^® LEGO^® League Jr. for Grades K-4. Gracious Professionalism^® is a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community. To learn more about FIRST^®, go to www.firstinspires.org.

About School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc.
School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc. (SBPLI) DBA FIRST^® Long Island is a fully volunteer-run 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1984 by Fred Breithut with the goal of developing partnerships between local high schools and businesses. His goal was to provide students with practical experience and curriculum development, while helping the business community develop its future workforce, which resulted in the formation of over 100 partnerships. In 1999, SBPLI brought the FIRST^® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) to Long Island, which featured just eight FIRST^® Robotics Competition high school teams. Since then, the Long Island Regional FIRST^® Robotics Competition has grown to two events with over 80 teams competing each year. SBPLI also hosts Long Island’s annual FIRST^® LEGO League Qualifying and Championship Tournaments and the FIRST^® LEGO League Junior Expos, in which over 2,000 elementary and middle school students from Nassau and Suffolk Counties take part each year. In 2016, SBPLI added the FIRST^® Tech Challenge to its roster of programs. For more information about the programs, or to learn how to become a sponsor, visit www.sbpli-lifirst.org.

KINGS PARK, NEW YORK — School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc. DBA FIRST^® Long Island, has announced that the organization will host a virtual FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Info Night via Zoom on Wednesday, August 19 at 7 p.m.

Participants will learn how to start teams, network with others who would like to do the same, learn about resources available to assist them and learn about the upcoming season and how it might work. Please note that SBPLI is unable to place students on existing teams.

The meeting is only open to adults and welcomes teachers, administrators, community organization leaders or anyone else who would like to learn more about FIRST programs. In addition, potential volunteers can learn about opportunities to participate at remote or on-site events for all programs. SBPLI will also present the full progression of FIRST programs for students from ages 4 through 18: FIRST LEGO^® League and its three divisions (Discover, Explore and Challenge), FIRST Tech Challenge and FIRST Robotics Competition.

Information on the Virtual meeting will be posted on SBPLI’s website prior to the event. For more information, please visit www.sbpli-lifirst.org. 

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About FIRST^®  
Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST^® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. Based in Manchester, N.H., FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, and engineering. With support from over 200 of the Fortune 500 companies and more than $30 million in college scholarships, the not-for-profit organization hosts the FIRST^® Robotics Competition for students in Grades 9-12; FIRST^® Tech Challenge for Grades 7-12; FIRST^® LEGO^® League for Grades 4-8; and FIRST^® LEGO^® League Jr. for Grades K-4. Gracious Professionalism^® is a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community. To learn more about FIRST^®, go to www.firstinspires.org.

 

About School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc.
School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc. (SBPLI) DBA FIRST^® Long Island is a fully volunteer-run 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1984 by Fred Breithut with the goal of developing partnerships between local high schools and businesses. His goal was to provide students with practical experience and curriculum development, while helping the business community develop its future workforce, which resulted in the formation of over 100 partnerships. In 1999, SBPLI brought the FIRST^® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) to Long Island, which featured just eight FIRST^® Robotics Competition high school teams. Since then, the Long Island Regional FIRST^® Robotics Competition has grown to two events with over 80 teams competing each year. SBPLI also hosts Long Island’s annual FIRST^® LEGO League Qualifying and Championship Tournaments and the FIRST^® LEGO League Junior Expos, in which over 2,000 elementary and middle school students from Nassau and Suffolk Counties take part each year. In 2016, SBPLI added the FIRST^® Tech Challenge to its roster of programs. For more information about the programs, or to learn how to become a sponsor, visit www.sbpli-lifirst.org.

Middle Island, New York [March 1, 2020] — After many weeks of research and design, 200 teams competed in seven Qualifiers for an opportunity to be one of 39 teams to participate in the Championship Tournament. More than 1,000 spectators cheered on approximately 400 contestants, ages 9 to16 (ages vary by country), at the annual FIRST® LEGO® League Long Island Championship at Longwood High School. Team #684 “STOBOR,” from Syosset, won the first-place Champion’s Award. The second-place Champion’s Award went to Team #38503 “Techno Queens,” from Jericho. The top teams won by embodying the program’s Core Values of teamwork and mutual respect while achieving excellence and innovation in both a robot game and an innovative project.

Winning the local Alliance award were Team #6435 “Fire Dragons” from Rocky Point and Team #48598 “Team D’Carma” from Manhasset with a score of 420 points.

FIRST LEGO League is an international program for 9- to 16-year-old children (ages vary by country) created in a partnership between FIRST and the LEGO Group in 1998 to get children excited about science and technology — and teach them valuable career and life skills. Children work alongside adult Mentors to design, build, and program autonomous robots using LEGO® MINDSTORMS® and create an innovative solution to a problem as part of their research project.

This year’s Challenge — CITY SHAPER(SM) — called for teams to research and present their own creative solutions to the real-world topic: sustainability in their towns.

The competition is judged in three areas: Project; Robot Design, and Core Values, which embody aspects of teamwork and good sportsmanship. Top robot game scores are also honored.

Listed below are the awards that were presented during the SBPLI FIRST LEGO League Long Island Championship on March 1:

For more information on SBPLI or FIRST LEGO League, please visit www.sbpli-lifirst.org.

 

 

(Middle Island, NY) — For two days, hundreds of students, parents and volunteers convened for learning, technology and fun at this year’s FIRST^® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) LEGO^® League Jr. Expos. The events were held on February 29 at Mineola High School and March 1 at Longwood High School and presented by School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc. dba FIRST^® Long Island.

During the two Expo days, children ages six to nine from teams across Long Island presented their projects for this year’s challenge, BOOMTOWN BUILD^SM, in which teams explored the growing needs and challenges of the people in their community. Using LEGO Education WeDo 2.0, they helped to imagine and create a building that solves a problem and makes life easier, happier or more connected for the people who use it. They also learned to present information through a Show-Me Poster and kept track of what they learn in their Engineering Notebook. Throughout their experience, teams operated under the signature set of FIRST Core Values.

Listed below are the awards given during the morning session on February 29:

Listed below are the awards given during the afternoon session on February 29:

Listed below are the awards given on March 1:

For more information on FIRST Long Island, please visit www.sbpli-lifirst.org.

Top Three Teams Advance to World Championship in Detroit

Who: Representatives/volunteers from School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc. (SBPLI) dba FIRST® Long Island
Syosset High School representatives
Students and their coaches/mentors from local FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Tech Challenge teams
Families of participating FIRST Long Island students

What: Twenty-four teams will head to Syosset High School to take part in the FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Tech Challenge Long Island Championship, presented by School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, dba FIRST Long Island. In this season’s challenge — dubbed SKYSTONESM Presented by Qualcomm — the object of the game is to obtain a higher score than the opposing alliance by overcoming obstacles that stand in the path to build a superstructure of the future, topping it off with a crown of achievement — a final capstone to symbolize their reach into the sky, and dreams of a hopeful future.

During the FIRST Tech Challenge events, students demonstrate their problem-solving skills, creative thinking, teamwork, competitive play, sportsmanship and sense of community. Three teams from the FIRST Long Island Championship will go on to the FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship in Detroit, Michigan on April 28-May 2, 2020.

This will be the fifth year that FIRST Tech Challenge has enabled students on Long Island to explore STEM through building and problem-solving.

When: Saturday, March 7
7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
[open to the public/media beginning at 11 a.m.]

Where: Syosset Senior High School
70 S Woods Road
Syosset, NY 11791

Directions: Long Island Expressway to Exit 44 (NY-135N). Merge onto NY-135N toward Syosset, continue to Exit 14E (NY-25 E). Merge onto NY-25E/Jericho Turnpike toward Woodbury. Continue for just over one-half mile, turn left onto S Woods Road. Continue for one mile, then turn left into Syosset Senior High School

Photo Ops: Representatives from School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc. discussing the challenge and the importance of robotics and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) in education. Teams presenting their robots for the first time. Teams working together to solve problems. Coaches guiding students throughout the Championship Tournament.

Event to Take Place at Syosset High School on Saturday, March 7

The FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Tech Challenge season — dubbed SKYSTONESM Presented by Qualcomm — will culminate with the SBPLI Long Island Championship tournament on March 7 at Syosset High School, located at 70 S. Woods Road in Syosset. Presented locally by School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc. (SBPLI) dba FIRST Long Island, FIRST Tech Challenge inspires students ages 12 to 18 to pursue an interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

Working alongside adult mentors, approximately 78,000 students in more than 20 countries have spent the last several months designing, building, programming and operating robots to play a floor game in an alliance format on a 12-foot-by-12-foot field. The 24 participating teams in this championship tournament earned the opportunity to compete during one of five regional qualifying tournaments that took place at William Floyd High School, Richard S. Sherman Great Neck North Middle School and Long Island School for the Gifted throughout January and February. This season, the object of the game is to obtain a higher score than the opposing alliance by overcoming obstacles that stand in the path to build a superstructure of the future, topping it off with a crown of achievement — a final capstone to symbolize their reach into the sky, and dreams of a hopeful future.

During the FIRST Tech Challenge events, students demonstrate their problem-solving skills, creative thinking, teamwork, competitive play, sportsmanship and sense of community. Three teams from the FIRST Long Island Championship will go on to the FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship in Detroit, Michigan on April 28-May 2, 2020.

This will be the fifth year that FIRST Tech Challenge has enabled students on Long Island to explore STEM through building and problem-solving.

“Students from across Long Island have been hard at work over the past few months building their robots and preparing for their qualifier event,” says Robert Stephenson, Program Co-Director and SBPLI/FIRST Long Island Representative. “FIRST Tech Challenge has grown into a powerful program for students across Long Island in such a short time, and we are excited to see these students show off their STEM talent at the upcoming Championship.”

A list of participating teams are as follows:

For more information on SBPLI or FIRST Tech Challenge, please visit www.sbpli-lifirst.org.

Who: School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc. (SBPLI) representatives/volunteers
Longwood High School representatives
Students and their coaches/mentors from 39 local FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) LEGO® League teams
Families of participating FIRST Long Island students
The general public and anyone who is interested in joining

What: Following a series of seven qualifiers, 39 FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) LEGO® League teams from across Nassau and Suffolk Counties are set to compete in this year’s CITY SHAPERSM challenge in the Long Island Championship at Longwood High School. During the event, presented by School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc. (SBPLI) dba FIRST Long Island, students ages nine to 14 will present the LEGO MINDSTORMS® robots that they designed, built, programmed and tested.

These teams were among the more than 200 that worked hard this season to explore one of the most relevant topics facing the world today: sustainability. Students researched current solutions to the problem and will present them to a panel of judges at the event.

At the Championship, these teams will look to advance to the FIRST World Festival in Detroit on April 29-May 2.

When: Sunday, March 1
9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

Where: Longwood High School
100 Longwood Road
Middle Island, NY 11953

Photo Ops: Representatives from School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc. discussing the challenge and the importance of robotics and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) in education. Teams presenting their LEGO MINDSTORMS® robots for the first time. Teams working together to solve problems and coaches guiding students throughout the Championship Tournament.

The following 39 teams have advanced to the SBPLI Long Island FIRST LEGO League Championship, which will take place on Sunday, March 1 at Longwood High School:

Event to Take Place at Longwood High School on Sunday, March 1

Following a series of qualifiers, 39 FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) LEGO® League teams from Nassau and Suffolk Counties are set to compete at the Long Island Championship at Longwood High School on Sunday, March 1. During the event, presented by School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc. (SBPLI) dba FIRST Long Island, students ages nine to 14 will present their LEGO MINDSTORMS® robots to address the challenge set forth in this year’s theme — CITY SHAPERSM.

These teams were among the more than 200 that worked hard this season to research, design, build, program and test LEGO MINDSTORMS® robots to explore one of the most relevant topics facing the world today: sustainability. Students explored current solutions to the problem they identified, and developed an innovative solution which they presented to Judges.

Students presented their solutions during one of seven qualifier tournaments that were held at William Floyd High School, Mineola High School and Huntington High School in January and early February. At the Championship, these teams will look to advance to the FIRST World Festival in Detroit on April 29-May 2.

This will be the 16th year that FIRST LEGO League has enabled students on Long Island to explore STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) through building and problem-solving.

“It’s wonderful to see so many students getting excited about the FIRST LEGO League challenge this year,” says Stephanie Stern, Program Co-Director and FIRST Long Island representative. “I was so impressed by each team’s performance during the qualifiers and enjoyed seeing how many skills they acquired by participating in the program—everything from teamwork to Gracious Professionalism® to STEM education. I can’t wait to see what the students bring to the championship. To see the teams in action, join us between 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. — there is no admission fee.”

For more information on SBPLI and the FIRST Long Island continuum of programs, or to become a sponsor, please visit www.sbpli-lifirst.org.

The following 39 teams have advanced to the SBPLI Long Island FIRST LEGO League Championship, which will take place on Sunday, March 1 at Longwood High School: