Quote:
Originally Posted by vhcook
Rookie All-star is a way to recognize new teams that really get the culture of FIRST. A strong candidate for the award would manage, while still brand new, to not just build a robot, but also start to explore the entrepreneurship, business plan, community outreach, and other aspects of the program. A Rookie All-star winner has made a good start on the sustained effort it takes to win Chairman's.
I think the current judging process for this award is working well. Other than teams that have actively mentored them, most of the teams at a regional (particularly visitors for whom this is not the home region) are not going to be that aware of what a rookie has done in their community. It's largely the same reason Chairmans is selected entirely by judge's panel. It's easy to see at a regional whose robots are working well - it's all out there on the field. Seeing who is doing the other parts of the culture of FIRST well really takes a different kind of attention, and those other parts of the culture are what the award is about.
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So question for you... is a team that has members and mentors that have already participated in US First truly "Rookie"... doesn't that give them an unfair advantage.. if their mentors and some students have already participated in first I would think they should "that really get the culture of FIRST." as they have first hand knowledge and experience....
I agree with your statement.... I also think that a Rookie team's interactions with other teams is important and should count... like you said it's really hard for Judges to know what visiting teams are doing in their communities... I think part of it needs to be walking around the pits and observing the interactions of students and mentors, and between teams, and talking with the teams... finding out their story, how they work, how they got here etc... what their past experience with US First has been (if any), length of time the team has been around.... how many students, how many mentors... etc.... etc...
Don't get me wrong guys.. I'm just trying to offer up some ways to clarify and improve the system..