We kicked off the new year inaugurating an exciting new partnership between FCDI and the Hillsborough County Public School District. With a ribbon cutting of our FIRST Robotics Competition field at the new space during the January 10 2026 FRC Season Kick off, we launched the new HCPS/FCDI STEM Center at Adams Middle School.
Closed in 2024 because of declining enrollment, the opportunity to repurpose the school’s gymnasium into a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math education and training facility was led by HCPS STEM Supervisor, Dr. Catherine White.
“Through our collaboration with FCDI on this initiative, we envision a future where every student has access to
transformative experiences that build critical thinking, problem-solving, and teamwork skills,” said Dr. White. “…We believe this partnership will not only strengthen STEM education for our students but also create lasting connections between schools, mentors, and our broader community. Together, we’re building more than robots. We’re building confident, capable young people ready to shape tomorrow’s world.”
With support from Middleton High School’s robotics program coaches, Robert Dodson and Cinnamon Webb, and their students, along with FCDIs FRC team 5276 the Edgar Alla Ohms, the new STEM Center houses FCDI’s big FIRST Robotics Competition field, as well as one of our FIRST Tech Challenge fields, REC Foundation VEX field and an Aerial Drone Competition field.
In addition to serving as competition, education and practice space for middle and high school competitive robotics and drone programs, the STEM Center will also support the development of elementary robotics and STEM education programming, as well as provide professional development opportunities for Hillsborough County teachers and educators statewide, training for robotics program volunteers, coaches and mentors, and serve as the new home of ROBOTICON Tampa Bay.
We’re very grateful to all our special guests who came out to celebrate this singular achievement, including Retired Rear Admiral, Paul A. Sohl, CEO of Florida High Tech Corridor, which is a long time benefactor of FCDI STEM programs; Dr. Ruthmae Sears of University of South Florida, who heads up the Noyse Master Teachers program which meets at AMRoC Fab Lab; Amanda Roark of SOFWERX – once again providing $1500 grants to attending teams! – to all our fabulous Foundation for Community Driven Innovation Board members, and to the nearly 20 FIRST Robotics Competition teams from Central and Gulf Coast Florida who joined us to
enjoy the 2026 FIRST Robotics Competition season kick-off of the very apropos named game – “Rebuilt” !
Our first formal competition at the STEM Center will be Time Warp in Tampa, a RADC Aerial Drone Competition tournament on February 28. Keep your eye on the AMRoC Fab Lab calendar page for event dates, and look for ROBOTICON Tampa Bay dates to save soon!
You can read Dr. White’s full Welcome letter here and see WMNF coverage of the new STEM Center here.