Team 2486 CocoNuts
Team 2486,CocoNuts from Flagstaff, Arizona, USA was honored to win the 2024 FIRST Championship FIRST Impact Award in Houston, Texas.
The mission of the CocoNuts has always been to make STEM programs accessible to all of Northern Arizona, including the Diné (Navajo) Reservation. Innumerable barriers make fulfilling this mission…HARD. But with resiliency, reliability, dedication, passion, and enthusiasm, we are able to empower change in not just students, but whole nations!
The CocoNuts are the only student-run FIRST Program Delivery Organization in the world, running Arizona’s FIRST Tech Challenge program and supporting FIRST LEGO League and FIRST Robotics Competition across the state by volunteering at countless events, sponsoring teams through our CocoNuts Registration Grant, and training new coaches through our FLL in a Nutshell professional development program.
We represent Arizona each summer at the National Advocacy Conference (NAC) in Washington, DC, giving students a chance to make their passion for STEM known to our elected officials and to advocate for STEM programs for all. To rally more student voices for change in our state, we created the Arizona Advocacy Conference a chance for FIRST teams to meet with their state representatives and demonstrate their robots at the Arizona Capitol.
To fight the challenges of inclusion and accessibility, we created the “También Lo Puedo Hacer (I Can Do It Too)” STEM fair at our high-needs neighborhood elementary school. We saw a need for STEM access on the Navajo Nation, so to bring indigenous STEM role models and activities closer to these communities, we created the “Diné People Are The Future” Fair in Leupp, AZ (about an hour from Flagstaff).
We partnered with Navajo Transitional Energy Company, to create a unique FIRST Tech Challenge program,“RezBotics”. In the first year, we started 12 rookie teams, trained the coaches, and hosted the first ever all-indigenous robotics tournament on the Navajo Nation! We partnered with FIRST to send the Inspire Award winner to the World Championships!
Presentation Video
Team Video
The Allaire Medal – Leadership Exemplified
The Allaire Medal recognizes leadership exemplified, Team 2486 awarded this medal to two students who demonstrated outstanding leadership and whose personal character best embodies the spirit of FIRST.
Elena’s passion is to bring STEM education to the Navajo Nation, her home. She has been a delegate to the National Advocacy Conference and an Impact presenter for 2023 and 2024. Elena was instrumental in our “RezBotics” initiative, serving as a role model for reservation coaches and teams, designing a logo that blends native culture and robotics, and serving as the Master of Ceremonies for our inaugural all-indigenous qualifier on the Navajo Nation. Elena was a 2024 FIRST Dean’s List Finalist. Her teammates speak highly of her tenacity, her poise when presenting, her accepting nature and her ability to enact change by breaking down barriers.
Kate
Kate is our lead driver and a key member of the build and design team. She is a dedicated volunteer for FIRST events, serving as a robot inspector and referee for innumerable events. She has also mentored both her elementary school FLL team and her middle school FTC team. Kate was a 2023 FIRST Dean’s List Finalist. Her teammates speak of her dedication to the team and FIRST, her ability to make everyone feel included, her kindness, and her commitment to teaching new members.
2024
Championship
FIRST Impact Award Winner
Learn More
To learn more about the CocoNuts, visit their website at www.team2486.org or follow them on Social Media. Instagram: coconuts2486; Twitter (X): @cocorobo