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b'MCALLEN, RGV - Yolanda Salda\\xf1a Woods, the new director of Alamo area for FIRST in Texas, has been in the Rio Grande Valley for the past few days.Woods, a native of San Benito, was in the Valley to attend FIRST RGV\\u2019s 2018-19 robotics competition season kickoff, which was held at Nikki Rowe High School in McAllen on Saturday. She told the Rio Grande Guardian was very impressed.\\u201cIt was really refreshing to see the level of support FIRST RGV received from the school districts in the Valley, Harlingen, Brownsville, McAllen, PSJA,\\u201d Woods said. \\u201cI am taking back to San Antonio a lot of ideas on how to make our kickoff event as exciting as FIRST RGV\\u2019s. We do not have the speakers and the cheerleaders and the drums, all the things that make the kickoff truly special for the students.\\u201dOn Monday, Woods joined FIRST RGV President Jason Arms and Mario Lozoya, executive director of Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation Executive Director, in making a presentation to invited guests at the Mexican Consulate\\u2019s Office in McAllen. FIRST RGV is offering to help start FIRST robotics competitions in Reynosa and Matamoros. Later, Woods sat down for a podcast with the Rio Grande Guardian. She spoke about her recent visit to Mexico City, where she attended the 2018 FIRST Global Challenge. Mexico\\u2019s commitment to the event was evidenced by appearances from both outgoing president, Enrique Pe\\xf1a Nieto, and incoming president, Andres Manuel L\\xf3pez Obrador. Woods also spoke about Arms\\u2019 plans to incorporate AmeriCorps VISTA, a national service program designed to alleviate poverty, into the FIRST RGV program.

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