Welcome to The TEK Center
FIRST Teams
The TEK Center is always looking for new, school aged students to join our teams. We offer two different levels of competition, FIRST® Tech Challenge (FTC) and FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL). FTC is for students aged 12-18 and focuses on engineering and programming. FLL is for students aged 7-14 and focuses on public speaking, basic programming and engineering skills. FIRST is not just about robotics; we strive to teach our students real world skills, such as presentation and public speaking. Our teams meet at 610 E Emma Ave, Springdale, AR 72764. Learn more about each below.
FTC Teams
FTC is a robotics competition for students aged 12-18. Students design a robot that will compete in a different game each year. The challenges fall into one of three major categories: Sorting, Stacking, and Shooting. Teams will program their robot using real world programming software such as Java. FTC has a heavy focus on design, program and engineering. FTC will also teach 3D printing to aid the design process. FTC students and alumni have many opportunities for scholarships and fellowships at a national level.
FLL Teams
FIRST LEGO League (FLL) is a competition for students aged 7-14. Every year, teams design a robot out of LEGOs and program it with SPIKE to interact with LEGO objects on a field. Teams will also research and solve a real-world problem that differs from year to year and present their findings to a panel of judges. Our 4 FLL teams are mentored by veterans of the program.
Giving Back to the Community
The TEK Center believes in supporting the community around us. We volunteer at many community events such as the Goshen United Methodist Church's Crawfish Boil, Camp Sequoyah and many technology camps around the area.
