--- title: A New Type of School Teaches Skills for the Future | FIRST description: FIRST is a global robotics community preparing young people for the future and the world’s leading youth-serving nonprofit advancing STEM education. image: https://community.firstinspires.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/ypsilanti-395x380.jpg --- ### Ypsilanti STEMM Middle College & Grizzly Robotics *FIRST *School District *| FIRST *Robotics Competition Team ### Ypsilanti STEMM Middle College, an innovative, dual-enrollment high school created in 2014 based on *FIRST *ethos, together with Grizzly Robotics, its robust after-school *FIRST *program, is enabling students to succeed and seeing dramatic improvements to attendance, graduation, and suspension rates, as well as state test scores. **Background** In Ypsilanti, Michigan, when school officials were searching for innovative ways to engage high school students in math and sciences, they based an entire high school on the *FIRST* philosophy. **Bringing STEM to Ypsilanti** The Ypsilanti STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Manufacturing) Middle College incorporates the *FIRST* emphasis on hands-on, problem-solving engineering and manufacturing skills into an innovative curriculum that provides students with exposure to college academic courses while still in high school. Grizzly Robotics, the school’s robust extracurricular *FIRST* Robotics Competition program, reinforces these skills in a fun, engaging way. **Enabling vulnerable youth to succeed** Together, the programs are enabling students to succeed. Daily attendance is up from 84 percent to 92 percent, graduation rates have soared from 69 percent to 97 percent, and suspensions have plummeted from 35 percent to the low single digits. The school has also significantly improved the percentage of students meeting proficiency level in science on the Michigan Merit Exam. A combination of high expectations, discipline, mentoring, and kindness have worked powerfully on young people in Grizzly Robotics, some of whom have faced unstable home lives and other challenges to success. ### “If I were to have one wish, it would be that schools would get *FIRST* as more than just an athletic team or after-school activity – that it really becomes infused in how they do business.” -- Scott Heister, *FIRST *Mentor, Ypsilanti STEMM Middle College Academic Director ** [Educators](https://community.firstinspires.org/topic/educators), [Mentor Stories](https://community.firstinspires.org/topic/mentor-stories) #### Share it: [** ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://community.firstinspires.org/new-type-school-teaches-skills-future) [** ](https://twitter.com/share?url=https://community.firstinspires.org/new-type-school-teaches-skills-future) [** ](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://community.firstinspires.org/new-type-school-teaches-skills-future) ![Default Author Image](https://community.firstinspires.org/hubfs/Community%20Blog%20v2/images/FIRST-author-icon.svg) Author [Admin](https://community.firstinspires.org/author/admin) ### Related Posts ** [Alumni](https://community.firstinspires.org/topic/alumni), [STEM for Everyone](https://community.firstinspires.org/topic/stem-for-everyone) Student finds a road to success through FIRST March 1, 2018 ** [Alumni](https://community.firstinspires.org/topic/alumni) FIRST enabled my pursuit of medical research March 7, 2018 ** [Educators](https://community.firstinspires.org/topic/educators) FIRST helps teachers discover more through STEM January 11, 2018 ![](https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=1200203950045814&ev=PageView&noscript=1) ![](https://ct.pinterest.com/v3/?tid=2615041699514&noscript=1) ![](https://ct.pinterest.com/v3/?tid=2615041699514&event=PageVisit&noscript=1)