FIRST robotics is an organization that aims to inspire students to get into technology and engineering fields. Formally "For Inspiration of Science and Technology," it was founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen and Woodie Flowers. Three years later, in 1992, the initial game "Maize Craze" was played. There were 28 teams that took part - but it was a solid start. Since then, FIRST has grown exponentially; to date there are over 19,000 teams involved with the different FIRST programs. Dean Kamen's vision was "to transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology heroes," and to an extent, he has succeeded.

    FIRST is the foundation for the FIRST Robotics Competition, FIRST Tech Challenge, FIRST Lego League, Junior FIRST Lego League, and FIRST Place; each of which are intended to focus on different age groups. Team 61 is involved in the FRC program, which is one of the branches intended for high school students, and where larger robots are built. FTC being the other, it entails somewhat smaller robots that do equally complex tasks. The FIRST Lego League is the branch dedicated to the grades 4-8, where small LEGO-based robots are made to complete tasks on a thematic playing surface. Junior FIRST Lego League is aimed for K-3, and entails many of the same challenges of FLL, except to a lesser difficulty level. FIRST Place is a facility in Manchester, NH where educational programs are held for anybody over 6 years old.