malization around it.” With incorporation and a board of directors in place, the focus of their efforts sharpened.“ We focused on four specific things,” Drapa says.“ We needed to become financially stable. We needed to create access for all of our students. We were looking for integration into curriculums within Vermont, and we wanted to tap into the education space and support all of the mentors and teams.” Today, that mission has expanded into sustaining a network that is bigger and more vibrant than ever.“ After our third year under that vision, we refined it, focusing on high quality experiences for all of our stakeholders,” Drapa continues.“ We started off with two competition events per year, and we are now hosting 10 events this year, which are held all across the state. Those are major STEM events with hundreds of participants at each of them. What our organization is trying to do is make this sustainable, so that the machinery of STEM is available to every student in our state, even if you’ re living in an underserved area.”
Joseph Chase, Executive Director of FIRST in Vermont, echoes that sentiment, adding that the heart of the organization is rooted in both inclusion and sustainability.“ What FIRST In Vermont has done is build a network where there are events that students look forward to going to in addition to the official regional and international FIRST competitions. It’ s a really friendly kind of competition, and it’ s a safe space for students who are looking for something very inclusive. This is a sport where it doesn’ t matter how fast you run or how high you jump. Everybody can find a role, even if it’ s not necessarily a STEM-oriented aspect. A lot of teams will have students who focus on the business side of things, on communication, on the graphical representations, or what their team marketing looks like.”
That inclusivity dovetails with an ambitious workforce development vision.“ Now that we have this big network, we have focused on building partnerships with businesses and manufacturers across Vermont.” Instead of internships centered around individual, short-term student internships with businesses or manufacturers, entire teams now partner with Vermont-based businesses over longer periods of time. Chase adds:“ It’ s a pipeline for businesses and manufacturers to develop their workforce. And that is really what gets Mark and I up in the morning: This new, 21st-century STEM workforce development model.” The partnerships have already resulted in powerful moments and stories. Drapa highlighted the iBots of Rutland, an FRC team who have partnered with General Electric( GE). According to Drapa, GE engineers mentor students in CAD design, coding, and project management. Their collaboration helped propel the iBots
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