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Over the summer, 18－years－old Roberto Mancera of Chandler wasn't looking forward to dances,
football games or even his last year in high school.He was more excited about building a robot that will
compete in the sixth annual FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC)Arizona Regional.
FIRST stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, a nonprofit
organization that believes the heroes of today's youth should be engineers, not sports or pop stars.They
aim to change the culture by hosting athleticlike competitions for robots，with cheering fans, mascots (吉祥物) and music.
Mancera and a team of about 14 of his schoolmates will compete this year against 44 other high
school teams from all over Arizona，California and New Mexico at the Arizona Veterans Memorial
Coliseum in Phoenix.Finalists will move on to the FRC 2009 Championship in Atlanta to face teams from
48 states and seven other countries.
For the 40 regional events worldwide, a similar“ kit (工具包) of parts” is given to each of the 1,680
teams from around the globe every January.The robot functions are different every year, and after a
sixweek building season, robots are boxed up and shipped off to the competition's destination.
The competition has a minimum $6,000 entrance fee, and students are sponsored and mentored by
adult professionals and experts，like computer science teacher Sam Alexander, 39, at Chan dler High.“I
try to give the kids the challenge and they try to figure it out，” he said.“They work through the entire
scientific method without me giving them the answers.”
FIRST students are also eligible(有资格的)to apply for $9.7 million in college scholarships,
something that Alexander's students have taken advantage of.
“You learn skills that your average student isn't learning.” Mancera said.“It's really amazing, and I've
been able to meet a lot of interesting people.” Mancera said that he found himself when he joined the
robot ics team.He now has set a career goal and has learned valuable leadership skills.
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dler High.“I