Volunteering

Make a difference in the lives of our students!

FIRST robotics STEM programs are a rich, hands-on educational experience for students in grades K-12. Almost every aspect of making these programs a reality relies solely on volunteer labor.  No matter whether you are the parent of a student participating on a team, or you are a community member who sees value in this STEM education opportunity and want to help out, read on to see what opportunities match your ability to participate.

ARBC Support Volunteers

As little 4 hours  on just one day out of the entire year or 1 hour each month (more for some positions); help these programs thrive in our community

ARBC needs volunteers for a range of time commitments and activities.  On the low end, commit to a four-hour block of time just once in a season supporting a particular event (but more is ok!), or attend a monthly  60 to 90 minute Members Meeting; more time is needed for more involved positions:

  • Event support volunteers : 4-hour blocks of time for events like Waterfront Festival, 4th of July Parade, and Open Streets
  • ARBC Members: monthly Members Meetings
  • ARBC Committee chairs and other non-board staff: monthly Members Meetings plus focused planning for events or specific services
  • ARBC Officers and Directors: monthly Members Meetings and Business Meetings, additional work depending on position

Find specific ARBC volunteer needs on our Help Wanted page.  See the meeting schedule on the ARBC home page.

FIRST Competition/Event Volunteers

Give just one day to make hundreds of students happy; highly rewarding and fun

Each FIRST competition requires a healthy dose of volunteers to organize and staff the event.  In the large majority of roles, no special skills or knowledge is required for you to support a competition.  When training is required, it is often “day of”, in person or (in a few cases) relatively painless on-line.

If you are at all curious about FIRST or robotics competitions in general, want to have a rewarding and fun day “on the inside”, or just like to see hardworking student teams in action, volunteer at a day-long FIRST competition.  Usually comes with a t-shirt and lunch 🙂

  • FLL Challenge Tournaments
  • FTC League Meets, League Tournaments, Super-Qualifiers, Championships
  • FRC Tournaments

You do NOT need to have a student involved on a team or in a particular program in order to volunteer to support an event.  In fact, volunteering at an event is a great way to get familiar with the programs before signing your student up.

Go to the FIRST Inspires Volunteer page to see opportunities (requires login using your FIRSTInspires account)

Adult Team Leadership Volunteers

Support a team 1,2, or 3 times a week for an entire season; touch the lives of students

Each team needs at least two adult coaches that provide an environment with enough structure and discipline for students to thrive in a manner appropriate to their age and abilities.  Alternatively, help coaches run a teams and/or provide specific skills and knowledge to student team members as a mentor.  Coaches and mentors meet with the teams; the team meeting schedule determines how much time you spend as a volunteer:

  • FIRST LEGO League Explore: Meet once/week for 60 to 90 minutes, for about 3 months
  • FIRST LEGO League Challenge: Meet twice/week for 2 to 2 1/2 hours per meeting, for at least 3 months, possibly more
  • FIRST Tech Challenge: Meet thrice/week for 3 hours per meeting, for 3 to 5 months

Offer to lead a team when you pre-register your student for a program (see the ARBC programs page) or come to an ARBC meeting (see the schedule on the ARBC home page).