[Citrus Dad]

Originally Posted by Pault

Which is why I am so concerned by the part of Frank's blog responding to the communities initial reaction in which he talks about the goals of FIRST.



This isn't just a disconnect between the teams and FIRST HQ, this is FIRST forgetting one of the key components of their own mission. It was not long ago that "Make It Loud" was one of FIRST's favorite catchphrases, but I haven't heard anything about it in an entire year.

From the lastest FRC email from FIRST:

Make it LOUD on Capitol Hill - Registration Deadline is Thursday, May 14th! We are looking for 6 more teams to join FRC Team RUSH 27 and many other FIRST teams at the second annual FIRST National Advocacy Conference on June 14-16th in Washington, DC!

To change our culture to one that values STEM, we must get the policy makers in Washington, DC on board with knowing about and supporting FIRST and STEM in education. For the first time ever, the proposed Elementary and Secondary Education Act contains support for teams participating in after-school mentor-based STEM engagement programs like FIRST. The more FIRST teams we can have advocating for this, the better chance we have of passing this legislation through the House of Representatives and Senate and getting the President's signature on it to make it law!

This is a historic time in Washington, DC and you can be part of increasing STEM engagement throughout the United States. For additional information on the conference, along with registration information, please visit: http://www.teamrush27.net/nac. The registration deadline is Thursday, May 14th.