In 1999, the Siegel Center at Virginia Commonwealth University became the site of the 10th regional for the FIRST Robotics Competition, as a result of a seed grant from NASA. At that time there were only five high schools involved in the program in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia, and the closest regional competitions were in Philadelphia and Cape Canaveral. In 2001, the FIRST LEGO League was introduced to Virginia, followed by the FIRST Tech Challenge in 2005, and the FIRST LEGO League Jr., to complete the FIRST continuum of programs for students in grades K-12. |
More than 6,700 students in grades 7-12 and 1,400 volunteers are involved in 15+ separate competitions produced by FIRST Chesapeake each year.