Best TV Show of the Week

i am FIRST on ABC

By catherine nailog

What a way to end the summer and start a new school year! The Best TV Show of the Week is ABC’s inspirational show, i am FIRST:  Science is Rock and Roll, which aired on Sunday, August 14th at 8:00 p.m. ET.  The show focused on will.i.am., member of the popular music group Black Eyed Peas, and his interest in technology.  He contacted Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway, the portable dialysis machine, and water purification systems.  Through Dean, will.i.am got involved with FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a program that has existed since 1989. The program gets kids interested in science, technology, and engineering.  Annually, FIRST holds a robotics competition in which competitors from the ages of eight through eighteen learn about math, science, robotics and engineering through the building and programming of robots.  For FIRST’s 2011 competition, twenty-two thousand robots started out in the competition, with fewer than 600 reaching the finals.  The show explored what the competitions entailed, the inspiring stories of robotics team members and their mentors, the musical performances of Black Eyed Peas and Willow Smith, and also included supportive comments from celebrities such as Justin Bieber, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Justin Timberlake and Miranda Cosgrove. 

What was encouraging about this show was seeing youths of different ages and different walks of life get involved with science and technology in an exciting way other than playing video games in front of their home TVs and computers.  It was also truly commendable for will.i.am, a rock star, to mesh art and science together.  He told viewers that learning science and math can be just as cool as playing on a winning athletic team.  FIRST is a wonderful organization that incorporates education and teamwork.  Congratulations to all the 2011 competitors and may they continue to be inspired during the new school year and beyond!

Best TV Show of the Week

The Parents Television Council - www.parentstv.org