ColoradoFIRST Program Leadership
Anya Wiens
FIRST® LEGO® League Explore and Discover Partner
Anya Wiens graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical
Engineering from Colorado School of Mines in 2022 and currently works as the head coach for an Artistic Swimming team is Northern Colorado. Anya has seen firsthand the importance of hands-on learning in the science, technology, and engineering fields and is very excited to be a part of fostering young children’s curiosity and excitement to help mold future STEAM entrepreneurs.
Contact: fllexplore@coloradofirst.org
Rebecca Parrent
FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge Partner
Rebecca Parrent has coached FIRST® LEGO League teams for 10 years since 2006, delivered technology and coding education to youth for 18+ years across 10 school districts in the Denver, Colorado area, has developed technology curriculum for international educators for 15 years, and has a Masters of Arts Education Curriculum Design – STEM degree. Rebecca presented at the InnEdCO (Innovative Educators of Colorado) conference in June 2022, for recently designed virtual robotics curriculum, and has presented in past ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) conferences new technology education programs delivered in Denver, CO schools. Rebecca is proud to be part of the ColoradoFIRST organization with the initiative to inspire future innovators and support tournaments for the state of Colorado.
Contact: fllc@coloradofirst.org
Paree Gregg
FIRST® Tech Challenge Partner
Paree has been involved with FIRST® for over 14 years as a coach and mentor for FIRST LEGO League Challenge (14 years), FIRST Tech Challenge (11 years), and is the coach of the 2017 FTC World Championship team. Her team is a proud recipient of the 2019 Design Award and 2018 Think Award at World Championships. She has a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science degree and has worked across defense and other industries. Her passion to help students is contagious and loves to see them thrive and continue in the STEM fields. Paree is excited to be a part of ColoradoFIRST and hopes to grow the program to meet the needs of all Colorado communities.
Contact: ftc@coloradofirst.org
Debbie English
FIRST® Robotics Competition Partner
Debbie has been involved with FIRST® for over 18 years as a mentor for FIRST LEGO League Challenge (6 years), FTC (2 years), and FRC (10 years) and is a proud recipient of the Woodie Flowers Finalist Award. After graduating from Colorado State University with a Computer Science degree, she started an engineering and technology-based business with her husband. Debbie is excited to be a part of Colorado FIRST and is excited to strengthen our FRC program in Colorado.
Contact: frc@coloradofirst.org