Despite the ongoing war and its effects on Israel’s younger population, an Israeli team won first place at the international robotics competition in Houston, Texas, at the end of April, for the first time in twenty years.
This competition is run by a non-profit organization called FIRST which strives to expose students to STEM-related subjects through different robotics competitions. With the support and sponsorship of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, FIRST Israel offers children programming from when they are in primary school to when they attend high school through which they can learn about robotics as part of a team and community.
These programs – FIRST LEGO League Challenge for primary school students and FIRST Robotics Competition for high school students – also provide a platform for kids to learn about core values such as teamwork, the importance of the process of learning, and inclusion.
At the end of the competitions this year, Ido Mazursky, FIRST Israel’s current CEO, held an event for the Israeli teams, where he explained that this year’s competitions and preparation time in Israel are in honor of the five alumni who fell in Gaza, “Allowing us to continue with the competition,” Gila Kusan, longtime FIRST Israel employee and incoming CEO later noted to the The Jerusalem Post.
The five soldiers who died in Gaza and are FIRST alumni are Itai Seif, Joseph Yosef Gitarts, Ohad Ashur, Jonathan Mimon, and Marguerite Gosak. All five were passionate about the competition, and some of them volunteered at competitions after graduation.
Keep reading at jpost.com.
