The gymnasium buzzes with activity at Lamoille Union High School at the February 2024 FTC Vermont Regional Championship
UVM Extension: Support at Every Step
The role that University of Vermont( UVM) plays in Vermont youth robotics is both practical and deeply mission-driven. Their work in the FIRST community draws on their foundation as a land-grant university, which is dedicated to using their academic expertise to catalyze community impact. Through a formal partnership between the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences( CALS) and the College of Engineering & Mathematical Sciences( CEMS), UVM Extension / 4-H serves as Vermont’ s Program Delivery Organization for the FIRST Tech Challenge( FTC), coordinating the season statewide, training adults, and making sure events happen on time and on budget.“ UVM Extension exists to get our research out to the communities,” says Liz Kenton, an outreach professional with UVM Extension / 4-H who supports STEM and agricultural workforce development.“ We have offices around the state, and we serve the entire state.”
She explains that UVM’ s relationship with FIRST grew from an institutional agreement designed to strengthen K-12 STEM outreach:“ There was an MOU( Memorandum of Understanding) between CALS and CEMS for K – 12 STEM outreach. CEMS wanted to strengthen their outreach to younger people. They wanted to get kids thinking about studying STEM at
UVM and staying in state.” For Kenton, the link with 4-H was natural:“ It aligns with 4-H, because we’ re all about‘ learn by doing,’ experiential learning, and hands-on learning. The kids are building robots, but the robots are also building the kids.” She also noted the“ team sport” nature of FIRST, adding that it offers“ opportunities for everyone: CAD, CNC, programming and coding, or outreach and program management.”
Kenton explains that in Vermont, UVM is the Program Delivery Organization for the FIRST Tech Challenge. Practically, that means 4-H handles the statewide scaffolding: recruiting and onboarding coaches; providing youth-development best prac-
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