Ribbon cutting marks the opening of Hillsborough County’s new STEM Center. Photo by Leah Burdick

The 2026 FIRST Robotics Games Competition — Rebuilt — kicked off last Saturday at Hillsborough County Public Schools’ new STEM Center. It’s the first STEM Center in the district, located inside the former Adams Middle School gymnasium.

The goal is to help expand access to science, technology, engineering and mathematics– also known as STEM, for local students.

The new center will serve as a practice, competition, and learning space for middle and high school robotics and drone programs. This is central Florida’s only permanent full scale FIRST Robotics Competition practice field,  FIRST Tech Challenge and REC Foundation VEX V5 fields and an Aerial Drone Competition field.

The project is a collaboration between Hillsborough County Public Schools, AMRoC Fab Lab and the Future Centers Development Initiative.

Catherine White is the supervisor of k-12 STEM Education

“This is the only space in Hillsborough like this. SO before the kids would have to drive hours to go practice. So now they’ll be able to stay in the county and practice and compete. And we’ll be able to hold competitions here and attract other schools and other counties to come and compete with us. So since this is one of a kind space, it means a lot to us,” White said.

She said she is thrilled to know students have a place to practice their robotics and in the future, see if they can build a center throughout the middle school.

Dakshesh Kaki is the chief operating officer of the Middleton Robotics organization.

“The closest practice field to us was about five or six hours away. A small group would make the drive with the robot and our mentor, practice for a few hours, and then drive back because it was really just a one-day thing,” Kaki said.

He said he’s excited about this year’s Rebuilt competition, now that teams have a larger practice space closer to home.

“If we were able to do what we did last year with all those constraints, I can only imagine where we’re going to go this year. We went from a ten-by-ten space and a field six hours away to something just 30 minutes from us,” Kaki said.

During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, donors and STEM mentors emphasized the importance of introducing STEM education at a younger age — and hopes the new center helps make that possible.