When judges at the 2026 FIRST International Robotics Championship in Houston realized no existing award fully captured what one Israeli team had achieved, they created a new one just for them.
The team, RoboActive #2096 from Darca Zinman High School in Dimona, Israel, who were trained in robotics by World ORT Kadima Mada, received the inaugural “Spreading STEM” Award after judges recognized their extraordinary efforts to expand science and technology education far and wide.
“This team has written a book on their widespread efforts to advance STEM all around them,” judges said, citing the team’s impact on approximately 25% of children in their hometown and educational outreach projects extending as far as Africa.
Held April 29 through May 2 at Houston’s George R. Brown Convention Center, the FIRST International Robotics Championship brings together thousands of top student robotics teams from around the world, including competitors from the United States, Canada, Brazil, Turkey, China, Australia, and Israel. Merely qualifying is considered a major achievement.
The 42 students from Dimona – a small desert city of roughly 35,000 residents in Israel’s Negev region – were supported by the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston and the official recognition carried particular significance.
Dimona was established in the late 1950s as one of Israel’s development towns, created largely for immigrant families arriving from North Africa and the Middle East. Decades later, it remains geographically and economically distant from Israel’s major technology centers.
However, 14 years ago, World ORT Kadima Mada – the Israeli arm of World ORT, one of the world’s largest Jewish educational organizations that operates across more than 30 countries – partnered with the Municipality of Dimona to create a citywide robotics and STEM education program spanning kindergarten through high school.
The initiative includes in-school and after-school programming, teacher training, competitions, mentoring, and community festivals designed to make science and engineering accessible across the city. Today, more than 260 robotics groups operate throughout Dimona, with roughly one in four children participating.
“This achievement reflects not only the talent and dedication of these outstanding students, but the strength of a long-term educational ecosystem built together in the city,” said Dr. Moshe Leiba, World ORT Kadima Mada’s Deputy Director General and Chief Pedagogy Officer.
Many of the mentors who accompanied RoboActive #2096 to Houston are themselves alumni of the program and, as the judges in Houston noted, the team’s influence extends internationally. After team alumnus Natai Ladani visited a community center for street children in Malawi and discovered many students had never used scientific equipment, the team developed hands-on science kits, created a STEM curriculum, raised funding independently, and returned to Malawi to deliver the program in person.
“For us, the project became much more than teaching science,” said team captain Shira Darhi, 17. “It was about giving children an opportunity to believe their dreams could actually become possible.”
Team member Elad Dahan, 17, described the Houston recognition as deeply emotional. “Seeing the Israeli flag and our team’s achievements recognized on a global stage was a deeply moving and proud moment for all of us,” he said.
A representative from the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston said: “As a long-time supporter of World ORT, it was meaningful to watch the teens compete on a global level and see the success of students who might not have otherwise had these opportunities. We particularly enjoyed learning how the training they received shapes their development.”
RoboActive #2096 is the only team in the competition’s history to win FIRST’s prestigious Engineering Inspiration Award over four consecutive years.
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About World ORT
Founded in 1880, World ORT is one of the world’s most far reaching Jewish educational networks, serving 80,000 students and 200,000 beneficiaries annually across more than 30 countries on five continents, with headquarters in New York and offices in London and Israel. Find out more at www.ort.org
MEDIA CONTACT
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