Rachel Salas, Ph.D., didn't expect to become an engineer or programmer.
Yet, in April 2026, while in Houston, Texas, volunteering as a judge at the First Lego League (FLL) World Championship - an international youth robotics competition – Salas received an email from the Fulbright Scholar Program. She had been selected for the Fulbright U.S. Scholar award to South Africa to research FLL robotics.
Salas, a lifelong advocate for literacy and science, currently serves as an associate professor of Literacy Studies and the director of the E.L. Cord Foundation Center for Learning and Literacy (CLL), housed in the College of Education and Human Development. But during evenings and weekends, she runs and coaches the Wolf Pack Bots, an FLL team primarily comprised of elementary and middle school students, many of whom were enrolled in the CLL’s tutoring program. Here, along with several dedicated University students, she assists team members in designing and programming their own Lego robots and coaches them as they compete against other teams. Last year, as they have done since 2018, the team advanced to the regional championship. Yet, for Salas, who has devoted her career in academia to literacy and language, robotics is ultimately another educational tool to build children’s literacy proficiency.
Salas first observed the connection between these two disciplines while volunteering at her daughter’s elementary school, when a teacher Salas had worked with asked if she would help start a FLL robotics team. Unfamiliar with the subject, but eager to get involved, she said yes. She soon discovered a pleasant surprise about FLL: in addition to designing and programming robots, teams must also complete a language-based research project related to the yearly science theme. This aspect of the competition revealed the integral relationship between literacy and STEM.
At that elementary school, many of the students spoke home languages such as Spanish, Vietnamese, Hmong and Japanese. But by practicing their literacy skills through STEM on the FLL team, they gradually built their literacy skills and presented their research with ease.
“I saw the power of the research project, how kids were learning to use the language arts,” Salas said. “They were able to speak, read and create visual representations of the knowledge they were learning. I saw how these students who had difficulty in their reading classes were building their confidence and learning research skills, performing scripts in front of the judges who were complete strangers to them.”
Members of the 2025 Wolf Pack Bots team practice presenting their research project.That two-year experience reshaped her view of literacy. Her career later brought her to the ҹɫÊÓƵ, where she began teaching the reading diagnosis course in the CLL tutoring program, working with the same children year after year and watching the personal challenges some had to overcome.
“One young man came to me when he was in fourth grade,” Salas said. “By fifth grade, we started to notice a difference in his behavior, and by sixth grade, it was a definite change.”
She eventually learned the student was being bullied in school. Recalling how robotics had helped earlier students, she built the Wolf Pack Bots program, initially with financial support from her family, bringing together a diverse group from local elementary and middle schools.
That student grew into a team leader. He gradually took ownership of the robot-building process and helped coach other students in both English and his primary language, Spanish. While building his literacy skills, he began to regain his self-confidence and eventually developed from making self-deprecating comments to viewing himself as a leader. The importance of the Wolf Pack Bots program was clear to Salas.
“I saw that transformation, and I thought, I can't stop doing that,” Salas said. “I’ve watched these kids develop and really come into their own and take on leadership roles.”
That was nearly a decade ago, and the team has stayed strong since. Several former Wolf Pack Bots team members are now enrolled as University undergraduates. Year after year, the program builds students’ literacy skills and shapes how they see themselves: as learners and leaders.
Members of the 2025 Wolf Pack Bots team put their robot through practice challenges.Salas has wanted to expand her robotics experience, and when deciding where to conduct her research, South Africa emerged as a partner. She will now embark on a seven-month research trip at Nelson Mandela University (NMU) in South Africa, during which the Fulbright program will offer her the chance to study how another nation builds STEM competency through robotics. Salas had met members of the NMU team at a previous World Championship, and learned that NMU runs a dedicated FLL development and mentorship program - a program she hopes can serve as a model for the ҹɫÊÓƵ.
“This recognition highlights the kind of applied, community-centered research we value at the University of Nevada,” said Executive Vice President and Provost Jeff Thompson. “Dr. Salas’ work demonstrates how creative approaches to teaching can strengthen legacy, expand access, and open new pathways for students here and around the world.”
While in South Africa, Salas hopes not only to learn how other FLL teams operate, but also to create an online repository for FLL teams worldwide to share their work and collaborate. For Salas, learning with global leaders is the next step in building the Wolf Pack Bots program. She’s excited to work with a group of like-minded thinkers who appreciate the link between STEM and literacy offered by FLL and, ultimately, make lasting impacts on her students' lives by strengthening their literacy skills.
“I love playing with the robots,” Salas said. “I think that's a lot of fun. I love teaching them programming, but it all comes down to helping students develop a sense of confidence and agency. The belief in themselves that, ‘I can do this, and I know I can.’”
