Quote:
Originally Posted by jason701802
I so wish this were true. The Chairman's award and the Engineering Inspiration award are not given to the teams that do the best to spread the word of FIRST, instead they are given to the teams to best spread the word FIRST. It has become virtually impossible for a team to win the Chairman's without starting a FRC or FTC team and mentoring tens of FLL teams. We live in a small, fairly isolated community that is incapable of supporting another FRC team. Why can't we be given credit for showing kids what is so great about science and technology and for getting people together in our community instead of getting a few people involved with a FRC or FTC team. It can be very had to convince people that FIRST is so great when the cost per person is so high and similar benefits can be had without being directly involved in FIRST.
I am not saying that FIRST does not benefit those involved in incredible ways or that it is not an incredible program, just that FIRST involvement is not the only way to get kids excited about math, science and engineering, and that FIRST needs to recognize this fact.
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I actually had the same thought many years ago. Both of the team I have worked with are from small rural areas with a limited amount of resources. I was under the impression that only "big city team" could win. I however pressed forwarded a a few years later we won. At the time we had a few FLL teams but that was it as far as other FIRST teams go. We did have a lot of community outreach and stories of how we had changed our culture using the principles of FIRST. The presentation is the biggest part of Chairman's Award. Highlighting your teams strengths is a must.