Thread: Chairman's Award Concerns
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Unread 12-04-2012, 23:37
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Levansic Levansic is offline
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AKA: Len Evansic
FRC #0585 (Cyber Penguins)
Team Role: Mentor
  
Join Date: Jan 2012
Rookie Year: 2008
Location: Tehachapi, CA
Posts: 185
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Re: Chairman's Award Concerns
Chairman's is really hard to discuss online, because so many people tie so much emotion to their views about the award and judging of the award. Plain text just can't carry the full weight of the discussion, without being misinterpreted by a few participants.

This being said, my team just won their second RCA this weekend at Las Vegas. We weren't expecting this award, as there were so many great teams at that regional.

Our team had been in existence since 2000, and when my wife and I joined, in the 2009 season, they had not yet won the award. Winning a RCA was an all-consuming obsession for the outgoing advisor and head mentor. My wife was the new advisor, and we were both rather put-off with constantly hearing "this will look good for Chairman's" while the discussed act was superficial and usually external to the team's activities.

We forced a culture change within the team. All mention of the Chairman's award was banished. The team started STEM outreach programs, with real commitments of time from the team members. We gave talks to civic groups and industry conferences, to explain FIRST and the importance of STEM education. The team expanded to a year-round club, instead of just meeting during build and competition season. We instituted mentor conduct rules, and emphasized Gracious Professionalism. We did our best to help a neighboring team that self-destructed during build. With all of this, we saw ourselves on the path to becoming the team we thought we could be someday, but nothing really special, yet.

As a NASA team, we submitted a Chairman's essay as required, and presented on our actual efforts. At the 2010 Las Vegas regional, we won our first RCA. We were stunned, and sincerely humbled by the recognition.

What does this rambling mean for the RCA and judging? Not much. Just that this was our path for success. Ignore the award. Do the right things, and set the right culture in your team. Document your real efforts, set high expectations for conduct embracing Gracious Professionalism, and have fun!

-- Len