FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

Will FIRST be part of the program announced by the White House today?

A Strategy for American Innovation

The proposed program invests $100B in Recovery Act funds in the areas of Research and Development, Education (including STEM), and infrastructure. The white paper specifically calls out improvements in STEM education. It's not clear whether Innovation Strategy includes or augments the budget for the Race to the Top Fund.

Imagine how many more students could participate in FIRST if $20M were made available for grants. That's only 0.5% of the $4B proposed budget augmentation for education, the same percentage NASA obtains from the Federal budget.

Is it time to start a letter writing campaign to our representatives?

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

Race to the Top is mentioned in this document on the Innovation Strategy web page: http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/doc...aper_final.pdf

An interesting read. These are the kind of promises the President made during campaigning that I'm expecting him to fulfill.

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

I don't know if the White House has specifically focused on FIRST, but .... I want to state what I know.

Our team has been building a relationship with our Congressional Representative for quite a while and recently during the Congressional break we had an extremely excellent and productive meeting with him. One of the things that makes this very important is that this Congressman is the co-chair of the bi-partisan Congressional Robotics Caucus.

He asked for and we provided him with suggestions for things Congress could do to promote FIRST. He also asked us to consider presenting to the Caucus and we are working on putting that together.

In the meantime, Dean Kamen is scheduled to present to the same committee on October 15th. There may be members from few teams in attendance for support but I do not know this for fact.

We have been considering asking teams around the country to give a presentation similar to the one we gave to committee co-chair. Events are pushing things along so here goes.

If your or someone you know would like to present to a caucus member please email me for more information. The list of caucus members are below. You can present what ever you want but I would ask to do a presentation very similar to what we did. It is an executive level presentation that moves quickly and takes only about 15 minutes after introductions are done.

I would ask that we do this in a coordinated fashion so that we can maximize our impact. Email me is you can do this, in particular if you are in Rep. Mike Doyle's district.


Rep. Mike Doyle D-PA, Co-Chair
Rep. Phil Gingrey R-GA, Co-Chair ( team 1311, Kell Robotics )

Rep. Jason Altmire, D-PA
Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-WI
Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-GA
Rep. Joe Barton R-TX
Rep. Michael Capuano D-MA
Rep. Kathleen Dahlkemper D-PA
Rep. Parker Griffith, D-AL
Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-CO
Rep. John Lewis D-GA ( team 3091, 100 Scholars )
Rep. Jerry McNerney D-CA
Rep. Alan Mollohan D-WV
Rep. Dennis Moore D-KS
Rep. Jim McGovern D-MA
Rep. Tim Murphy R-PA
Rep. John Murtha D-PA
Rep. John Olver D-MA
Rep. Todd Platts R-PA
Rep. Tim Ryan D—OH
Rep. Bill Shuster R-PA
Rep. Bennie Thompson D-MS
Rep. Glenn Thompson R-PA
Rep. John F. Tierney D-MA
Rep. Niki Tsongas D-MA
Rep. Zach Wamp R-TN
Rep. Robert Wittman R-VA
Rep. Bill Young R-FL

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

:) My man, Tim Ryan. We don't need to convince him to promote FIRST. Having been hooked by 48 and other local teams, he already secured $150k plus in grant funding for local FIRST expansion, which, in conjunction with immediate startup support from 48 and other NEOFRA teams, has led to 3 new FRC teams, a new FTC team, 7+ new FLL teams, and has provided supplemental funding to existing teams, with extra to spare.

In our case, the grant funding is being administered by the Trumbull County Educational Service Center, and as a byproduct, they are learning more about FIRST and developing ways to foster connections, collaboration, and resource sharing among local teams. NEOFRA's will be done. :)

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

Team 1987 sent around 400 letters to all of our reps and all the way to the top and the Ed. Department and Science and Technology organizations in the new cabinet stressing FIRST and the need for it and why it fits in the STEM program. Got a few notes back even!

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

What, no Michigan reps? No fun >.<
Out of curiosity, where would such money go towards, should it be awarded? It would be awesome to have the federal government show an interest in helping FIRST expand, I'm curious though how it would go about doing that.

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

Hm... I vote that all of the twin cities area teams in Minnesota put something together to show to some of our local representatives? Anyone else from Minnesota reading this thread and want to put something together? Shoot me a pm maybe?

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

Excellent question. This is something a lot of people have thought about beyond the usual "hey Uncle Sam, do something !!".

I will preface the discussion by stating that the following is my opinion based on my gray hair, my worldview, and my view of how the US Constititution allocates powers and responsibilities to the Federal and State governments. Constitutionally education was allocated to the States and remains mostly so. Because of civil and equity rights issues in the 50's, 60's, 70's the Federal sector encroached onto the educational turf and has established a substantial influence in policy matters. Having said all that, I'll proceed.......

If I were writing a policy, here is what I'd do.

Establish the "Teacher STEM Incentive Award Program" administered by the U.S Department of Education.

The award program is simple.

Any public school teacher that coaches a robotics team and takes it to a competition will receive a teacher stipend. The stipend will be listed on a table of stipends that describe the amount of money versus the robotics program. Up to two teachers per team are eligible. The regional director for the robotics competitions would certify that the teacher complied with the requirement which would then trigger US Dept. of Ed. to make the award. No other assessment would be required on a teacher/team basis by US Dept. of Ed, however the department would be authorized to assess the overall program and report accordingly.

I'll pick some stipend amounts out of the air.
FIRST FRC $ 1,500
FIRST FTC $ 1,000
FIRST FLL $ 750
VEX $ 1,000
MATE $ 1,000
and a few other programs

The program sunsets in 5 years, meaning the states have to make arrangements to pick up the slack.

Under the guidelines above the 1st year cost would be under $ 40 M / year.

There is a second way to write this legislation that may be more attractive to teams.
......Offer 1/2 the stipend amount with the stipulation that the state or local district match the amount.
......And offer 1/2 the team registration fee with similiar state / district match.
......And the $ 40 M would still cover this plan.


It may make some mentors cranky but one of the biggest impediments to teacher participation is the lack of incentives. If the Federal sector said I'll put up half if you put up half then that would be substantial progress.

I'm sure I'll get beat up for something here but this is what I think will be a very cost effective program. FIRST has been growing at about 20% a year. I'm not sure we want to grow any faster than 30% a year. Having a shared financial stake will help incentivize teams to manage themselves properly and not view the government as a giant sugar daddy. I'm sure that over time the program could be adapted to give larger stakes in at-risk schools and other tough situations.

I've heard rumors of other proposals that are being considered and for all I know one exists and it will be pushed by the administration when they see fit.

I for one am very interested in a solid proposal that 100 FIRST mentors could sign on to and recommend to the Congress.

This proposal isn't totally without precedent. Several years ago there was a "Teacher Incentive Award" program but it was very broad based and had substantial overhead, both in application and review. This is much more narrow but streamlined and focused.

Potentially - If this all worked out addittional options could be added to incentivize other STEM activities that are not necessarily robotics related but still streamlined, and focused.

Ed

PS - see Corky the Robot clean up the lake right here

.

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

I have doubts about how streamlined the end result would actually be (sorry, my political cycnisim is at a new high at the moment), but in theory it sounds like a neat idea. The idea behind giving teachers incentives might actually kill two birds with one stone. Teachers might as a result be more eager to volunteer to help out teams, and at the same time potentially make them more likely to promote the program among their peers and administrations (this time I'm figuring that I'm being overly optimistic, but it definitely seems worth a shot).

Out of curiosity, is there any way for teams not in the states of the listed representatives to help out?

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

I share your cynicism. 'streamlined bureaucracy' sounds like an oxymoron. I don't know if you have ever seen some of this highly credentialed measure assessment feedback stuff produced by the PhD's in education but it makes my head really hurt.

I think we have a shot at this if we can influence how the legislation is written.

Presenting to your representative is always desirable whether they are on the caucus or not.

Any Congressman can attend the briefings or join the caucus by contacting one of the co-chair offices list here

Repeating myself for the general audience - for the umpteenth time in the thread - give the presentation carefully and at an executive level. We have a simple presentation that we have given to quite a few policy makers and influencer's and they are captivated by it. It is actually a modified version of the stock FIRST powerpoint but the emphasis points are a little different. Kinda like where you put the accent on a word in a sentence.

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

The emphasis on "It might make some mentors cranky but ..." is mine. What makes me cranky is failing to get teachers involved.

I believe teachers are inadequately compensated for their efforts. Getting teachers with STEM background is even more difficult because people with those skills can find career paths that pay much better and have better working conditions. I fully understand their reluctance to take on the additional effort to support an FRC team. I believe an award/incentive structure for teachers involved in FIRST would be a good thing. Whether teachers' unions would endorse such a program might be a different issue.

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

First of all, I am delighted that the American government has intentions to invest in education, particularly with regard to science and technology. Hopefully it inspires increased interest on this side of the border as well.

Second of all, I have to admit that I am writing my comments as a teacher in British Columbia's public education system. I am aware that salaries, workloads, educational requirements for teachers and traditions around stipends for coaching school sports are different in the United States, and vary (sometimes greatly) from state to state.

However I know from my experience as a teacher sponsor of an FRC team, FLL teams, FTC teams and VEX teams that I would be happier to see funds allocated towards removing some of the obstacles that stand in the way of sponsoring teams... entry fees, material supplies, workspace and travelling costs, rather than to me, personally. Professional development for teachers new to the program would also help make them more comfortable with stepping forward to sponsor a team.

I can see where this suggestion is coming from and appreciate the good intent behind it, but I have found that when teachers are adequately compensated for their education, dedication and hard work, and are given an environment in which they can be effective teachers, that they will find many ways to volunteer to provide exciting, enriching experiences for students without additional financial motivation.

So if teachers aren't volunteering... perhaps there is a bigger problem than just a lack of financial motiviation. I know we've seen teacher volunteerism here in BC drop off as the government has increased class sizes and generally used education as a political football. That definitely decreases teacher motiviation...

Jason

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

How about funding to mentors period? I'm doing this as a 4-H leader, not as a teacher. There aren't any bonus points at work for my time spent volunteering. I live in an area where some of the school districts are very small and can't begin to start funding a team, paying stipends, etc. And some federal money could flow to other teams with volunteer mentors like 1519 (Mechanical Mayhem) too.

I'm just wondering why our representative isn't part of this caucus.

Trying to Help

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

Having the government directly pay a stipend to mentors may open up a whole can of worms, and also fails to get private industry more involved in the process. If they were instead to either give tax credits to businesses who will pay full wages/salary to their employees for a time period not to exceed three to five work days in the course of a year for the sole purpose of volunteering in the community. Everyone benefits this way, and I really don't think three or five "lost" days will break the bank of most companies.

Now if there are people worried about such actions as this adding unnecessary programs to the federal government deficit, this is a reasonable assessment. But unlike a family household income, which is pretty single dimensional, where the greatest concern is that money in is greater than money out, large businesses and governments think about money multi-dimensionally. They think not about what a dollar is right now, but what it could become. And ultimately, for as much concern as there is about the deficit (and much of it is justifiably), the absolute figures of the deficit don't matter. The only thing that does matter is the deficit as percent of GDP.

It's like how Person A might have $10,000 in debt and Person B has $15,000 in debt. Some might say that Person B is much worse off, because he has more debt. But they forget about what those people make. If Person A had never graduated high school and is only making $30,000 per year at Dunkin Donuts, but Person B makes $100,000 per year at Widgets Inc, Person B will actually have a much easier time paying off their debt.

So what does this mean for the economy and the country? If the rate at which the economy is growing is faster than the rate of the growth of the national debt, then the debt is actually decreasing on a relative scale. It seems weird, but it's true. And if programs can be demonstrated to generate more economic wealth than they cost, they are actually helping lower the federal deficit in the long run. So if funding STEM activities such as FIRST is shown to generate a huge number of new college engineering students, which will design a new generation of gadgets and gizmos, or start new businesses to sell their ideas, (or in other words, create a lot of economic wealth) then the long-term positive economic impacts generates more wealth than funding such programs cost. This is the real reason why there are so many large corporations sponsoring FIRST. It's not just because of the warm and fuzzy feeling, it's because there are long-term, tangible benefits to their bottom line.

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

I think this is a great idea! The teachers at my school get extra pay for coaching sports. Why not our robotics team as well? All of our mentors volunteer all of their time and even have to pay for some things out of pocket due to a decrease in funding.

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

You have heard of the three 'r's.

We are talking about the three 'I's.

Last April Dr. Karan Watson gave the keynote speech on the Engineer of the Future 2.0 at Olin University, Dr. Woodie Flowers followed with his speech on educational reform, and then at FIRST Conferences our team presented on FIRSTsteps, which is based in part on work by Clay Shirky.

We talked a lot about institutional barriers, getting around them, coordinating responses to the 'institution'. Karan talked at length at institutional change.

The Three 'I's are:

a) initiate
b) implement
c) institutionalize

200,000 students, 85,000 volunteers, and about 18,000 teams of FIRST have accomplished (a) and (b)

We have to accomplish (c). It will have to become the policy (budget and direction) of the institution (local schools, boards, boe, state boe, etc) to support robotics and other STEM activities.


The award gets paid to teachers, not mentors. Art pointed out a lot of interesting stuff but... I'd keep that stuff in the thread and out of a presentation. Pretty 'wonky' stuff and it isn't necessary in an executive presentation. There are a few slides that explains that in pictures in seconds.


It isn't a scientific study but my travels tell me that the 'institution' telegraphs the message to teachers that robotics isn't important because "we are not going to pay you to do this". "We will pay you to coach the ball kickers, the horn blowers, and the thespians, but not the robotics folks." The institutional message has to change.


Any Congressman can attend the briefings or join the caucus by contacting one of the co-chair offices list here They do not have to actually join the caucus but can if they like.


At risk of kicking off a whole new debate I'll put forth what I think the model for robotics should be.

At our school things like the competitive marching band, football, and other stuff is paid for by booster organizations. The teachers receive stipends for their additional efforts. There are part time staffers that support some of these organizations that are paid for by booster, not the schools. Everyone else is an unpaid volunteer parent/mentor.

This model works well and have been around a long time and is likely to be unchanged and also likely to be cited as an example of how to run a program.

The robotics competition (using Dean's sports model) is a co-cirricular activitity that reinforces classroom learning. It is NOT an extra-cirricular activity IMHO. The distinction is important. The presentation to the institution is important. An army of institutional warriers have deemed the cirriculum to be the most important thing they have and our activity is co-cirricular reinforcement, not some little club spinning off into space.


Back to FIRSTsteps, coordination & collaboration.
Without getting into the Phd stuff on the flat space of social networking and policy wonking......

If we can craft an intelligent proposal for legislation and policy, and get 100+ mentors to undersign it and we give it to the caucus that will be a powerful statement. One of three things would then happen.

a) they accept it
b) they reject it
c) or worst of all - they send it out for study.

Calling all mentors !!!

Ed

PS - see Corky the Robot clean up the lake right here

.

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

ebarker, do you have links to your executive level presentation? Would love to adapt it for our use if that is OK with you.

Thanks

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

extremely ok. give me a couple of days to post it.

we have been in a mad scramble for months. we were going to do a video version but the day our shoot was going to happen got rescheduled 3 times for different things we had to do. After GRITS it looked like we would get a breather but right now Atlanta is really wet, schools are closed, people are spread around. it is a mess.

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

I have no experience in how to 'craft an intelligent proposal for legislation and policy' but I'm willing to learn and to help, Ed.

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

If I understand the scenario correctly, the government steered a huge slice of stimulus money ($100B) to education, and the Education Secretary has about a $5B personal account to spend as he wishes, all done without any planning or identified need for the money. Yikes.

I give full credit to President Obama if he is able to enact his education reform agenda and increase the accountability of teachers and schools. That’s probably where the best bang for the buck is e.g. linking teacher merit pay to student performance. In that regard, spending the $5B on teacher stipends for supporting robotics teams or other activities is probably going to have a very positive affect. But I’m glad I don’t have the power to spend $5B of other peoples money as I please, that’s outright crazy.

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

definitely crazy - I'm straining trying to figure out how to spend more than 100 M if you fully funded all robotics program, FIRST and non-FIRST, plus teacher development, plus stipends.

That is only 1/50th of the 5B. Is that 5B over next year, or the next 10 years ? what are the time units ?

Ed

edit: I think this is the route to your questions, drink lots of coffee before reading http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/recovery/index.html

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:

September 14, 2009 Laurie Pianka, SIATech

408.421.2718 laurie.pianka@siatech.org

Linda Collins Leigh, SIATech

760.994.6587

linda.leigh@siatech.org





ADVISORY / PREVIOUS HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUTS TO BE HONORED IN WASHINGTON, DC, ON SEPTEMBER 23
SIATech Students from San Jose Job Corps Center Recognized for their Robotics Team which Successfully Competed with Top Schools and Students in Remarkable Season



Washington, DC—The School for Integrated Academics and Technologies, a network of public charter high schools focused on dropout recovery, announces its San Jose Robotics team will participate in Job Corps Day on Capitol Hill on September 23, 2009. Four student team members and several team mentors will put on a Robotics demonstration in the Rayburn House office building. Later that evening, the students will act as greeters at the Oratory Competition at the Capitol Visitor’s Center.



WHAT: An opportunity to meet with previous dropouts who dramatically turned their lives around. These students returned to school at SIATech, joined the Robotics team, and traveled the country to compete against the elite students and schools in the country. The students will be honored as part of the Department of Labor’s Job Corps Day: “45 Years of Building Lives and Launching Careers” Celebration.



WHO: SIATech at San Jose Job Corps’ Robotics Team Members and Mentors (Team 1834, Evolution). Special guests include: Members of Congress invited to demonstration times.



WHEN: Wednesday, September 23, 2009, Complete Event Agenda

Robotics Exhibit Booth, 9:00 am – 4:30 pm (Eastern)

Robotics Demonstration, 11:30 am – 12:30 pm and 2:30 – 3:30 pm (Eastern)

Greeters prior to Oratory Competition, 4:30 – 5:30 pm (Eastern)



WHERE: Rayburn House Office Building, Foyer (Robotics Exhibit Booth and Demonstration)

Capitol Visitor’s Center, Orientation Theatre (Greeters at Oratory Competition)



About SIATech

The School for Integrated Academics and Technologies (SIATech®) is an award-winning dropout recovery program. SIATech is a fully accredited public charter high school that operates in partnership with the federal Job Corps program. The school serves low-income, previously out-of-school youth. SIATech excels at identifying student strengths and individualizing instruction to meet each student’s needs and goals. The school’s safe and caring setting enables students to take charge of their learning and obtain the tools they need for lifetime success, whether it is at their chosen career or further education. More than 8,500 out-of-school youth have graduated from SIATech’s 14 campuses. More information www.siatech.org.



About Job Corps

Job Corps is a voluntary program under the Department of Labor that provides outreach to disadvantaged urban youth, who have either had difficulty in traditional high school programs, dropped out of school, or are facing academic and/or personal challenges that make attending a traditional high school difficult or impossible. Job Corps is a free education and training program that helps young people learn a career, complete high school, and find and keep a good job. There are seven Job Corps centers in California and 122 centers nationwide. Click here for a history of Job Corps. More information www.jobcorps.gov.



About Robotics Team 1834 Evolution

Each SIATech student is a previous dropout who has a remarkable story of overcoming adversity. Robotics gives students experience in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and provides an exciting hands-on opportunity for students to realize they can be successful in higher education and high-tech careers.



Team 1834 Evolution from the San Jose Job Corps Center earned many awards and honors. The team earned the Judges’ Award at the prestigious Silicon Valley Regional. The team earned the Engineering Inspiration Award at the Hawaiian Regional in Honolulu. This award qualified the team to participate in the World Championships. At the FIRST Robotics World Championships the team earned 15th place out of 87 teams in their division. After season completion, the team was honored by State Senator Elaine Alquist on the floor of the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The Washington, DC, demonstration will be the climactic conclusion to the season.



About US FIRST Robotics

US FIRST Robotics is a worldwide competition where teams solve an identical problem during a six-week timeframe using a standard kit of parts. Students are rewarded for excellence in design, team spirit, gracious professionalism and maturity, and the ability to overcome life’s obstacles. More information http://www.usfirst.org/.

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

Wikipedia has a reasonable article on teacher merit pay at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merit_pay. Without getting in to the argument here, I would just suggest that like most stories, there are two sides to this one.

I will also suggest that $5 billion might not be such a crazy amount of money to spread across the United States. There are roughly 50 million K-12 students in the USA, so that is only about $100 per student. Even the larger figure of $100 billion for education... which really is a staggering number... is not so large when the overall size of the education system is considered, especially if it is spread across several years.

I hope the money is spent wisely. I might be biased, but I do consider education to be more of an investment than an expenditure.

Jason

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

Thank you Jenny for posting this. We need to bring these great teams into the public light to help get the message across.

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

I also hope the money is spent wisely, but I'm not so optimistic that the best investments will be made with these funds.

For example: a local high school, struggling to meet API scores, "invests" in a new artificial surface football field. Meanwhile, the CAD teacher cannot get computers that runs the CAD program, so the class is little more than study-hall. What is the Board of Education thinking???

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

The comments that I've deleted were not helpful and just because I'm annoyed at the way the quality of education of our nation's children and our future seems to be constantly compromised and challenged, is no reason for me to take the low road. I apologize.

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

The 5B doesn't bother me so much as how US Dept of Ed says how to spend it.

It is such a long long way from the bureaucracy that administers the money to the classroom. When you read some of these documents you begin to wonder if the administrators in Washington and the classroom teachers even speak the same language and live on the same planet.

If you go read the Ed.gov documents you always see a lot about 'programs that target x and y'. So after a lot of work a school district design a plan, pursues a grant to do 'x' or 'y', then does the plan, then does a ton of assessment and send the answers back to get put in the wooden crate next to the other wooden crates you see in the movies. And then whatever they did probably doesn't get replicated anywhere else.

They are funding a search for solutions. We have a solution in hand but without funding. As a politician told me recently - "this is the biggest no-brainer in the history of earth".

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

This is why I certainly hope that Obama makes good on his promise to bring the government into the Web 2.0 generation with increased transparency. Simply putting all declassified records online in the public domain an accessible manner would be a great asset to this country, both to see existing progress and to hold elected officials accountable.

But even without this new transparency, if there are great ideas that get forgotten in wooden creates, then shame on us, the constituents. We all vote the elected officials into their positions, and we all have a responsibility to make sure they are looking out for our interests, whether it's at the voting box, writing letters to our politicians, going door-to-door, connecting and discussing matters with family, friends, and neighbors, organizing rallies or protests, or just making sure our voices are heard.

As soon as we let our cynicism of the ability of the our government to do anything right overtake our motivation to make our government better, that's when it actually will do nothing right. But if we are both optimistic and motivated, then anything is possible. Three years ago, Obama was an incredibly long-shot contender for President, simply because most people back then weren't expecting such a huge number of optimistic, motivated people coming together and backing him.

If we as a community can really rally behind a clear and concise set of goals, then I see no problems in securing funding for FIRST from the government. But right now, neither Dean nor FIRST have given teams clear and concise goals on what they believe should be the optimal role of our government in FIRST. Instead, teams everywhere are doing disparate campaigns in their local regions, to limited success. If we want true success, we need a national campaign.

To really put the FIRST community on the right track, Dean needs to do the equivalent of Obama's health care speech before Congress earlier this month. It needs to be powerful, it needs to be emotional, it needs to be motivational, and it needs to set clear and concise goals of what constitutes success. Maybe it even means Woodie would be the one to give such a speech, as he's a much better orator.

FIRST has been working on their alumni database, now's the time to use it. Start sending our emails at least once every week or two to everyone. (Don't worry too much that an email a week is too much, as the ones who are too bothered by receiving an email asking for help every week or two probably couldn't be bothered to actually help at all). Ask them for a donation, ask them for support, and nurture a positive relationship between the community at large and the goals of the organization. Organize rallies, in highly visible places. Get local teams to bring their robots to the State House, with everyone wearing their team tee-shirts and bringing rally signs.

The scale of these rallies needs to be big, much bigger than currently. And the only way this will work is if the really gung-ho teams get their other local teams to participate as well. Having one team do all the public relations work for FIRST in a region will help them personally fill their trophy case with EI or CA trophies, but it doesn't help the FIRST community in general as much as having all teams contribute more. A large number of moderately enthusiastic voices are much more effective at swaying opinion than a small but highly vocal minority.

These rallies and public events need to start everywhere, because it takes a lot of "infrastructure" to really pull off a successful national rally in Washington. It takes a lot of connections, it takes a lot of people, it takes a lot of confidence that these people actually will show up. The last one is the most crucial, with the only way of having genuine confidence being positive track records that speak for themselves.

For if FIRST doesn't start "getting" this soon, I fear their ambitious plans for a national march in Washington in time for their 20th anniversary in 2011 will be but a fraction of the success they could have been, had there been a much more rigorous grassroots effort behind it. So I'd seriously suggest they carefully examine and learn from the 2008 Obama campaign for their public relations and grassroots efforts. Keep it positive, keep it motivated, and gently but forcibly hold people's feet to the fire by telling them that if this is what they genuinely believe in, then need to show it, and they need to act.

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

Art,

Your remarks are right on the mark. We (the entire FIRST community) needs to make it's collective voice heard. We don't need to wait until Kickoff to get a new homework assignment.

Contact the White House at http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

This is news to me. Can you kindly direct us to more information regarding this future event?

Thank you.

Jane

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

I believe Art is referring to the event related to Dean's long-term homework assignment: create a FIRSTCommunity database for all FIRST members past and present.

Dean mentioned in Kickoff and Championship speeches the idea of having a million people impacted by FIRST march in the National Mall.

I haven't heard much about how the database is doing in terms of numbers, though. For me, the registration process seemed too lengthy (too much data requested, duplicate information input, etc.). Also, the registration request needs to be reviewed before access is granted.

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

I remember this but at the time, it sounded like an idea - I was wondering if it had developed into something more. A lot of advanced planning on the part of participants would have to happen to make this a go.

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

Unless the FIRSTCommunity response is really BIG, the march on the Mall will probably just remain an idea. I think an organized letter-writing campaign to our representatives requesting FIRST receive a small slice of the proposed budget augmentation for education would be far easier and more effective.

Perhaps FIRST can give us a template that we can personalize with our own team stories (so it's not just a "form letter" barrage). The letter spell out how FIRST believes the money should be spent (teacher grants, team registration support, event support, etc.) and how FIRST can provide evidence for accountability and impact of the program's expenditures.

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

This is what I suspect might be a problem; the lack of real motivation of our community to really stand behind what we believe in.

Writing letters is good and all, but it is a single piece of the puzzle. It's not the entire puzzle. Writing letters to politicians does nothing to convince our neighbors down the street that supporting programs like FIRST is good for the country. Rallies and public events that bring attention to our cause can expose a lot of new people to this idea. They reinforce the notion that there are motivated people behind it. Ans as long as we stay positive, motivated, and under control (there's a stark difference between a rally and an angry mob), it can serve as a major public relations event.

We as a community agree that our programs are great for the future of this country, and most politicians (from both parties, no less) that personally interact with members of our community also strongly agree with our goals. But as a democracy, it's majority rule. And right now, the FIRST community is in the minority. We need to convince the general public as much as the politicians themselves, if not more so, that our goals are good for the future of this country.

This is the reason why I believe the 20th anniversary march on the National Mall is an amazing idea. There are hundreds of teams within an eight to ten hour drive or train ride to Washington DC. But unless we as a community are able to convince a large number of the regular, non-FIRST community to show up as well in support of our goals, we'd we lucky to break a few thousand people in attendance.

But this march on Washington is something that I personally believe will wither from death by committee if the decision-making process is left pretty much entirely to FIRST HQ. For rallies to be a success, they need to be genuine grassroots efforts driven from the bottom up. Astroturf campaigns strictly managed from the top down often fail at being as effective. But at the same time, grassroots efforts need a clear goal, an end target to aim for. And right now that target is really fuzzy, other than "more teams! MORE TEAMS!!!". Clear goals, such as for example "we're aiming increase funding to math and science by $X, guarantee schools across the country can afford basic materials for hands-on science labs, include national science mandates onto the existing reading, writing, and math requirements of No Child Left Behind, etc." is what we need, because we can't hit a target if we don't know what we're aiming for.

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

I'm personally not a big fan of marches and rallies. I grew up during the hippie era and I think they are overrated and given too much credence. It seems one of the outcomes of that era is it promotes the concept that this is how things are done. You still see it a lot in the pop hipster culture commercials today that we get things done by 'demanding things'.

Today we live in a 'flat social networking space'. We can coordinate some really cool actions today that was not possible in the past because the cost to communicate and coordinate has fallen through the floor. (to learn more look at the Clay Shirky lectures on ted.com)

At this years kickoff and at the Olin lectures, Woodie Flowers likened 'demanding institutional change in education' to a trapeze artist act. We have been demanding educational change, but to "what!!! " . Like telling a trapeze artist to jump, but grab what ??

What I'm proposing is that we:
a) Use the social networking space (Chiefdelphi) to create a very specific set of proposals that Congress can use to craft legislation.
b) We will present it to the Congress, and it's members
c) We will coordinate the action, coordinate the letter writing campaign to support 'legislation x'

We need to come back to what 'legislation x' is going to be.

I have multiple issues with the statements on the issue of Dean or Woodie or FIRST should do x, or y, or z.

1st - this really runs against the grain of popular opinion, but it isn't necessarily the role of FIRST or Dean to hand down every decision and every everything like manna from heaven. Their job is to paint the vision, keep the flame, focus the troops.

2nd - because of the legal nature of their roles and the legal basis on which FIRST is founded they are likely not even able to suggest or lobby for legislation. Those of you that are familiar with setting up article of incorporation for a corporation, for profit or non-profit know what I'm talking about.

3rd - I am for one a 'free agent'. I work for no one (with respect to STEM or robotics or education). Most people on CD are free agents. We do not have any specific legal emcumbrances that might slow us down.

The specific proposal I'm outlining includes FIRST, but also VEX, Mate, Best, and a couple of other things.

If we can develop a specific proposal and advocate it we will do a lot better than simply demanding the the government spend X dollars on STEM. Otherwise they will spend the money anyway and it will be like pouring water through a screen door with respect to robotics.

Ed

PS - see Corky the Robot clean up the lake right here

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

I agree with Ed...mostly. While I too am from the days of love and peace, we need to do things which will get media attention. The nightly newscasts always have a 'feelgood' story to end the day. Let's try to be that story! Again, as Ed says, everything doesn't have to come from FIRST HQ. Just turn all of us loose with GP and shameless self-promotion, and we can do the job!

IMHO

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

and the things you don't agree on, well...hit me....

I was thinking last night if we can get something put together, and get 100 mentors or maybe all the Chairman's and Championship Chairman's mentors to 'undersign it' then that would be a good statement to give to Congress.

kinda like one of those full page ads you see in the Wall Street Journal or USA Today, but without spending the money....

Ed

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

The only disagreement was with the utility of "demonstrations and rallies". Given the toxic environment of the summer's town hall meetings, whatever your views, I bet the media might be willing to give a "non-toxic" town hall a little air time.

In line with what you are proposing, I had drafted a message to FIRST Teams that is appropriate to post at this time. It may give us some direction for our efforts:

"Teams,

As we all ramp up to face a challenging new year, I am reminded of stories from teams across the country (and the world) who face obstacles in their own schools. Stories of being charged “janitorial fees” for having shops opened after school hours to difficulties obtaining permission to go to regional competitions, these all stem from having inadequate support from the school administrations and school boards. While the TechnoTicks are blessed in their support from the school board to the superintendant to the principal, I realize our good fortune is not shared by all of you.

I fear we suffer from being the “best kept secret” in efforts promoting STEM, despite all the efforts of Dean, Woodie and the Board of FIRST. While school policies are the responsibility of the the local Boards of Education, State Departments of Education provide leadership in encouraging, and in some cases, mandating educational policies.

In the current environment of financial restraints, we need to make the point that FIRST brings a huge investment to the school in the form of an inspirational platform for STEM education as well as the funds provided (and often equipment) by team sponsors. Teams usually require little from the schools other than provided a place to work and transportation. A big bang for the buck! The studies done by FIRST (http://usfirst.org/aboutus/content.aspx?id=46) amply demonstrate this point.

So, what I am proposing is that teams in each state (or province) approach their State Board of Education, asking for an endorsement of FIRST programs. This could take the form of a letter (or presentation) from team mentors, students, supportive school officials and of course, our sponsors.

Dean has asked us to do homework each year to spread word about FIRST. I think we need to up the ante and try to effect change at the state level to provide a more hospitable environment for team activities and team growth."

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

I would march for our students' futures and for the value and quality of their education.

I would wave signs with the names and faces of our heroes on them. Heroes that have championed scientific discovery, space exploration, innovative challenges now and down through history.

I would celebrate 20 years of celebrating problem solving and effort and collaboration.

I would march. :)

But I like the message very much, Jon. Thank you for that quick turnaround time.

Jane

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

It wasn't the noise from the political world of late but there have been plenty of things in the past few years that annoy me. An example - I think a year or so ago some hipsters made a commercial about something - it might have been climate change or alternative energy or something like that. Lots of noise, lots of demands of political leaders.

The reality is real change comes from 'boots on the ground'. What we really need are more students like the ones in FIRST. Students pursuing STEM education like the ones in FIRST are the ones that will solve problems in energy, healthcare and all the rest.

That is why we built a robot to pick up trash - to demonstrate action, not talk.

I like the letter - collecting endorsements is very important.

When we give the presentation to policy makers on FIRST - the presentation is short but emphatic. 3,500 companies and institutions, 200,000 students, 85,000 volunteers, have voted with their time, money, and sweat that this is a worthy thing. Presenting those facts to is important in making a good impression.

On the issue of getting the local district / state to put their stamp of approval - look at this postcard handout

It is nothing more than marketing literature that quickly explains FIRST to teachers. Page 2 has the stuff teachers are looking for, page 1 is filler material about our team. We print the cards and pay the bills.

But the Georgia Department of Education logo is on the card. That is a powerful endorsement that didn't cost the state anything.

We get these cards and a similar email out to educators wherever/whenever appropriate.

Ed

PS - see Corky the Robot clean up the lake right here

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

Kudos to you and the Kellrobotic Team! That is exactly what I talking about in terms of getting State Endorsements. We should use Georgia as a model for the other states.

But let's take your letter idea a step further...signed by not only 100 mentors, but in essence 200,000 students (and how many alumni now whose lives FIRST has touched?), 3500 companies and 85,000 volunteers. Our team went to DC and visited every Congressman's office.....let's have a group of teams deliver that "letter" to every Congressman and Senator....and invite them to a demo outside the Smithsonian on the Mall.

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

I'm all for it. The "100" number was more a figure a speech.

Ideally we can do is have the letter in support of a specific bill.

"Place golf ball on tee, tee up, swing, crack, hole in one".........

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

The strategic decision is whether to wait for a bill or to endorse the President's STEM initiative in a more generic way. Timing may be a factor here. In the meanwhile, we can use this forum to craft the letter.

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

As in comedy, timing is everything.......

What is our smartest move ? Probably craft a very good generic endorsement to the STEM initiative, and have a specific spending proposal in 'our pocket'. Even without pulling the spending proposal out of the pocket we can build 'brand awareness'.

This is an election year coming up. Campaigns are starting everywhere. It is a good time to talk to campaigns about STEM, education, and FIRST

On the issue of brand awareness and reaching out and touching the political process a local candidate just released this today, about FIRST.


From the Poythress for Governor campaign.


THE THRILL OF VICTORY AND THE AGONY OF A DEAD BATTERY



Elizabeth and I were delighted to wake up early last Saturday morning to drive to the Museum of Aviation at Robins Air Force Base for a taste of G.R.I.T.S. We attended the opening session of GeorgiaFIRST Robotics Invitational Tournament and Showcase. You might recall that we went to the international robotics tournament in Atlanta this past spring. This was the 1st annual off-season event for the Georgia high school robotics teams. Twelve teams were competing, and the intensity of the contest made battery management a key element in the tournament.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition in Science and Technology) engages, celebrates and inspires students as they discover that they can be successful in science and technology. Teams work together to build a robot from the ground up. They design, construct and program the robot to fulfill a specific function – in this tournament the 5 ft tall machines had to pick up loose balls on the floor and deposit them in a basket.

As an extension to the classroom learning experience, this unique varsity sport of the mind gives young people the opportunity to work first hand with scientist, engineers, and technicians who serve as mentors to their teams. “Winning” is a function of the entire process, as points are awarded for excellence in design, demonstrated team spirit, gracious professionalism and maturity, and the ability to overcome obstacles.

In today’s technology-driven, global society, these students are getting a head start on their high-tech careers by putting theory into action and learning critical lessons about teamwork. And they have great fun doing it!

Thanks, once again, to the Kell High School Robotics team and Ed Barker their mentor/coach for inviting me to learn more about their efforts to spread this fascinating platform for education across the state. I look forward to continuing to work with them and learn from these inspiring young people.

the full text is here

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Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

Great work getting recognition from a major candidate!

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

Maryland State Department of Education endorsed and targeted FRC and FLL in the RFP sent to the counties for STEM proposals.
RFPs went out in May.

Unfortunately I am hearing there were major cutbacks to the funding since then. I have not seen the final list of programs funded.

Re: FIRST and Obama's Innovation Strategy
 

It is now time to seize the moment......as I mentioned in my post from 2 months ago, it is up to all of us to approach our state, or provincial, or district school boards and do what President Obama said the South Korean parents do: seek excellence in teaching of math, science and technology.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and...ucate-innovate

Watching the President yesterday, my wife, who has served 2 terms on our school board, said she only wished the parents would come to meetings and do the same.

As Secretary of Education Duncan said yesterday "We need a robotics team in every high school" (I wonder where he got that from?)

http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and...ucate-innovate

While leadership may recognize what we need to do; it is up to us, the citizens, to make sure it happens. We can use this Forum, and others, to find the Federal and State resources available to our school systems. We cannot simply assume this will happen! Our Regional Directors and/or Senior Mentors need to help organize and focus this effort. We all need to step up!

Carpe Diem!