FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is an international, high school level robotics competition, founded with the ultimate goal that science and engineering would become more culturally mainstream.

Due to a lack of funding for the 2009 season, Boulder High Robotics was planning a one year hiatus. A generous last minute gift from Comcast put team 1157 back in the game. Our program began in 2003 as a result of a grant from Sun Microsystems. Team 1157 first competed in 2003 as a part of the FIRST Robotics regional in Seattle. Then, the following year in 2004 we competed in the premiere FIRST regional chapter in Denver, Colorado. Also in 2004, we attended the national competition in Atlanta, having won a lottery slot issued to rookie teams.

The Boulder High robotics team consists of 25 students, who bring many different attributes and creativity. We have five mentors, two of whom are experienced engineers at Ball Aerospace. Forty percent of our student members are female, a higher percentage then any previous year. Our team is supported by our faculty sponsor Dan Zahner, professional mentors, and student mentors who study engineering in college. With the help of our sponsor and mentors we have been able to attend every FIRST Robotics Competition since 2003.

Since the team's start in 2003, we have had a strong showing at every regional. Last year we won the Imagery Award, which is awarded to the team with the most spirit and best aesthetics. This year we are not just going for the Imagery Award but also the Chairman's Award, the most prestigious award given. Our ultimate goal is another trip to Atlanta to compete in the National competition.

This program is helping it's participants to achieve their goals of becoming engineers after college. Boulder High School offers multiple technical classes including drafting, design tech, robotics, and architecture. These classes help students who are not involved in robotics gain interest and join the club. In our community service we go around to different elementary schools and assist in the FIRST Lego Robotics league. We also bring our competition robot for show and tell.