Plainedge High School attended this year's kickoff for the 2012 FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition, sponsored by School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc. (SBPLI) and Stony Brook University. They gathered with more than 40 participating Long Island high schools on Saturday, January 7 at Stony Brook University's Jacob Javits Center for a presentation and simulcast broadcast from New Hampshire. After the presentation, each team received a kit of parts to help them build a 130-pound robot. The teams will have six weeks to construct the robot and prepare for the upcoming competition to be held on March 29-31 at Hofstra University. Members of the Plainedge robotics team are pictured displaying the contents of the kit of parts with their mentor. For more information about SBPLI and the annual FIRST Robotics Competition, visit http://www.sbpli.org. ### * Photos are available upon request. School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc. (SBPLI) was founded in 1984 by Fred Breithut with the goal of developing partnerships between local high schools and businesses that would provide students with practical experience and curriculum development, while helping the business community develop its future workforce. Over 100 partnerships have been formed. In 1999, SBPLI brought the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics program to Long Island, where 14 high school teams participated. Since then, the FIRST robotics program has grown to 50 teams, with over 2,000 students participating in FIRST Robotics and LEGO League programs on Long Island each year. The 2012 FIRST Robotics Competition will be held at Hofstra University on March 29-31, 2012.