Robotics USVI

On October 4, four local high school students traveled to Incheon, South Korea, to represent the U.S. Virgin Islands in the FIRST Global Challenge,an international robotics competition hosted by the nonprofit FIRST Global. The six-person delegationincluded Project Promise Founder and Executive Director Resa O’Reilly Shearn, who manages theteam; official team members Ethan Valery, Grayson Stanton, Nyan Bedminster, and Ziva Caleb; andteam coach Francisco Reyes.

This marked Project Promise’s fourth year participating in the global event. In 2023, FIRST Global invited Project Promise to take part in its Robotics Challenge in Singapore and provided a full sponsorship for the team. Last year, local students represented the territory at the competition in Panama City, Panama. Team Captain and fourth-year participant Ziva Caleb said the group was eager to compete on the world stage again. “Through our participation with FIRST Global, we had the opportunity to learn new skills and techniques, as well as collaborate with different countries across the world. This has provided us with a new outlook on challenges we face back home.”, Calab stated.

Since April, the student team and coach met regularly to strategize, build, and prepare for the competition. Last week, students from around the world gathered in Incheon to collaborate and compete in the 2026 FIRST Global Challenge. “We were excited to once again be invited to represent the U.S. Virgin Islands at the FIRST Global Robotics Challenge,” said Shearn. “We are incredibly grateful to FIRST Global for this opportunity and to all of our sponsors for their continued support.”