Quote:
Originally Posted by JaneYoung
I would rather see teams work on the sustainability side of things, finding creative ways to encourage sponsors to join the FIRST community, help school districts embrace the race towards excelling in STEM initiatives, and getting universities and community colleges on board with sponsorship, scholarships, team support/build space and promotion.
Each of us has to have our house in order to better strengthen this program and build it on a firm and fortified foundation.
No, I don't think we are ready but we can work to be.
Jane
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Jane, I think this is the most I've agreed with you on something... EVER.
Take a look at what the highest numbered team is (38??) and how many teams we have (17??). It isn't accurate but you can pretty easily see that we've lost a lot of teams. A lot of teams only last one year. (Check out some of Mark McLeod's posts for more on this, they are really cool) And many rookie teams build a barely functioning kitbot and get discouraged. We are going to see an influx of students and teams and mentors. None of whom are prepared for what lies ahead. If you want to capitalize on this you need to be ready. There are some great documents by some great people around these forums. Find them, use them, expand them.
We also need to change how we do things around here. We can no longer just say "hey, look at this sheet metal 6wd I made". We have to explain why 6wd is beneficial, why we are using sheet metal instead of welded tube or fiberglass or plywood. Not because we need to know but because we need to show, by example, why things are done certain ways.
Now, excuse me, I have to get up in 4.5 hours. I'll hunt down examples of some of the stuff I mean tomorrow (internet willing).