Fresh T.E.C.H. (Technology Engineering Carpentry and Higher learning, Team 4242) is a Washington, DC based robotics team comprised of at-risk youth and young adult males who participate in the Fresh Start program with Living Classrooms of the National Capital Region. Each year, these non-traditional students are invited to compete against over 50 regional high schools in the FIRST Chesapeake Robotics Competition. Last year, the team received the Judges’ Award in their local qualifying event but failed to make it past the regional competition. This year, the team defied the odds by, not only placing in the Top 10 at the Regional Chesapeake Championship, but also becoming the only Washington, DC-based team to win a spot in the 2016 FIRST National Championship in St. Louis on April 27th-30th.

The Fresh Start program, from which these students hail, is run by a local non-profit which relies on grants and donations to fund the program. Team Fresh T.E.C.H. needs your support to help get them to the final round of competition in St. Louis for the first time! Your donation will be used for the competition's entry fee as well as travel, food, and lodging for the team for four days.

About FIRST Robotics:  “The varsity Sport for the Mind," FIRST Robotics Competition combines the excitement of sport with the rigors of science and technology. Under strict rules, limited resources, and time limits, teams of high school students are challenged to raise funds, design a team "brand," hone teamwork skills, and build and program robots to perform prescribed tasks against a field of competitors. It’s as close to "real-world engineering" as a student can get. Volunteer professional mentors lend their time and talents to guide each team.

About Fresh Start:  The Fresh T.E.C.H. team is a part of the Fresh Start program, run by Living Classrooms of the National Capital Region. Fresh Start is changing lives by teaching marketable job skills to students of under-served communities. Fresh Start is a 40-week program that provides vocational, academic, and social skills development training to out-of-school males ages 16-19. The program uses metal and woodworking as a medium to teach core subjects such as reading, writing, and history as well as STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) curriculum. The program is designed to mirror the workplace by giving participants an opportunity to practice job skills and attitudes that will help them with their career. The students participate in a student-run business in which they manufacture and sell outdoor furniture and accessories. Upon graduation from the program students are matched with an employer and provided job retention support. The U.S. Department of Labor and the National Youth Employment Coalition have recognized Fresh Start for best practices working with at-risk youth and for embodying a continuous improvement process.

About Living Classrooms:  Living Classrooms Foundation of the National Capital Region strengthens communities and inspires young people to achieve their potential through hands-on education and job training, using urban, natural, and maritime resources as "living classrooms." A local non-profit, based in Washington, DC, Living Classrooms has been serving at-risk youth and young adults in the region since 2001, using its distinctive competency in experiential learning—literally learning by direct experience—or what we call “learning by doing.”