The Harlem Knights FIRST Robotics Team 1660 began in 2005 as an after-school program for Frederick Douglass Academy and Rice High School.  The team currently consists of about 40 minority students from Frederick Douglass Academy whom we believe are the innovators and engineers of the future.​

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Every year at the beginning of January, FIRST unveils a new game, and over 2,000 teams worldwide are given a kit of parts and 6 weeks to design and build a 120-pound robot to play that game. Our team brainstorms ideas, makes prototypes to test those ideas, and then we proceed with the guidance of mentors to  build, wire up, and program the robot to compete at a regional event for a place in the World Championship. We also do our best to raise money so we can travel to off-season competitions.

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Over the past seven years, 100% of the seniors on the team have graduated from high school (compared to New York State graduation rates for Blacks and Hispanics, 54.7%  and 53.1%, respectively [based on NCES Statistics]), 100% have attended college, and most have majored in STEM related majors.