STEM programs through FIRST Robotics also include outreach to targeted groups, including not only women but first nations communities, visually impaired and hearing-impaired students, and at-risk students. We also spend much of our resources to reach out to those in underserved areas or under-resourced areas where perhaps the school district doesn't have the money to go ahead and institute one of these programs.
We do a lot of network building, our students with our mentors and our students with our teachers. It's amazing that even though they're in the same school every day with the same teachers, robotics brings them together and really is a new fabric in the school. We feel that this is developing our next generation of STEM leaders, and we know that because we've been around long enough now such that a lot of these students have now graduated from university and are coming back or serving in those university communities as STEM leaders.
We're seeing a transformation of what was science and technology and engineering into what's really a popular sport. I wish I had had that choice years ago as well, but we are empowering women to make courageous post-secondary and career choices. Sometimes in these teams it's the first time they've learned that they're making decisions based on critical analysis and thinking. It's no longer about voting for the most popular beauty queen or who's going to be in charge of your football team. It's based on scientific information and they now realize they have a very strong voice at the table.