WA budget woes threaten LEGO robotics program. What Tri-City kids are doing about it
Fourth- and fifth-graders at Marcus Whitman Elementary School in Richland met recently to demonstrate their skills and show support for FIRST Washington, the state-funded nonprofit helping the 2025 state champion FIRST LEGO League Dino Nuggys and other teams.
The program introduces STEM education to public school students through fun, exciting and hands-on learning. Elementary students use research, problem-solving, coding and engineering to build and program a LEGO brick robot to perform tasks.
But funding for the program is in jeopardy as the state grapples with a four-year, $12 billion budget deficit.
In the Tri-Cities region, 30 middle and elementary schools, as well as 16 high schools, participate in FIRST Washington robotics teams.
'My favorite part was was enjoying the rush of running my code at competition and completing missions,' fifth-grader Colton Culbertson wrote in his letter to state legislators.
'My biggest obstacle was discussions with coding within my team. I am most proud of learning and using code programs,' said Culbertson, who wants to pursue a career in engineering.
Fourth-grader Beatriz Mercado, who wants to be a scientist, says LEGO League competitions helped her communicate her thoughts and opinions more clearly. She says it also provides a head start for students interested in STEM.
'Moving forward, I now believe I can change the future,' she wrote lawmakers. 'If FLL is no longer an opportunity for me, I would be disappointed because I believe students should have a program where they can code, build and learn how to work together as a team.'
Christine McKinnon is a 20-year FIRST Washington volunteer who previously coached for more than 10 years. She now organizes robotics tournaments, and says local schools wouldn't be able to participate in programs without the state funding.
'What I love about the robotics program is it brings kids together that normally wouldn't come together,' from musicians to math geeks, she said. 'Kids who wouldn't talk to teach other on the playground build a robot together.'
McKinnon says the high school programs, FIRST TECH Challenge and FIRST Robotics, see students harness the power of programming languages, such as Java, to solve challenges with robots built from kits.
FIRST Washington is a branch of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a national organization that's been around since the late 1980s with a goal of making STEM education as exciting as sports. It's the world's leading youth-serving nonprofit advancing STEM education.
Washington OSPI, the state's department of education, is a generous supporter of FIRST Washington programs. It funded more than $1.4 million during the 2023-24 school year, according to OSPI documents.
The nonprofit is requesting a continuation of money to keep these programs afloat, despite a tight budgeting season at the Washington Legislature. Part of their lobbying efforts includes asking students and families to send letters to the three lawmakers who represent their legislative districts in Olympia.
The 105-day legislative session began Jan. 13 and is set to conclude April 27. In addition to laws, legislators also will form budgets for the 2025-27 biennium. Gov. Bob Ferguson is expected to make a budget announcement next week as he and lawmakers scrub the budget for cuts. Investments to K-12 education programs are not expected to be cut.
The nine-student Dino Nuggys team is raising money to attend an international invitational competition in Massachusetts in June. Their goal is to raise $17,000 on GoFundMe for flights, meals and vehicle rentals.
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