Quote:
Originally Posted by PayneTrain
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Can you imagine a world where teams in Virginia and the rest of the world can compete without having to float the massive barrier to entry that is registration fees? Support like this is one of many ways we can achieve that.
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You seem to have your sights firmly fixed on using the grants for FRC purposes. Maybe not, but that is how it seems to a reader.
Please remember, teams only need pay a $75 fee to enjoy the 12-month VRC season (The last I knew, FTC's entry fee was a little higher, but sort-of in the same ballpark).
I definitely support the FRC program, and I understand why some hastily written posts might seem to focus only on FRC, but ...
A $10K grant to a school in a disadvantaged community can easily create four fully-funded and well-equipped VRC teams that easily give all sorts of hands-on experimentation & inspiration to a total of about 30 students.
If that same location gets another $10K grant in the next year, they would have the cash to spin up two more teams (a total of six), and add 10-15 more students (all getting lots of hands-on experience and experimentation) to their roster.
And, classrooms, or other programs can easily use VRC (or FTC) equipment & software.
I'm not advocating only VRC (between FTC and VRC, VRC is the program I know the best). Obviously, FTC and VRC are very similar. Each has pluses and minuses. My belief is that FTC is a bit more expensive, and is purposefully moving in the direction of being a tougher row to hoe. Regardless, if after hearing a balanced description of both programs, a school wants to dive into FTC instead of VRC, or into both FTC and VRC, I'll applaud.
Bottom Line: Assuming the bill becomes law, let's initially encourage schools to use these grants on low-risk, high-payoff investments that give us all the most bang for our tax bucks! FRC is high-cost, high-risk, requires much from adult mentors, and doesn't scale up well as the number of interested students at a single location grows. If walking, then jogging, then running makes sense, FRC shouldn't be the first thought we have.
Blake
PS: Goodness! There was a different bill (SB17) asking for $50K per school grants? $50K could put hands-on VRC inspiration into the lives of 20 teams of 6-8 students in a first season. That would be roughly 140 students at a single school all able to participate directly in mechanical design and CAD, strategizing and requirements/design definition, software development, integration and testing (and design iterations), and in the various softer-skill activities of each team. Making that direct involvement possible for 140 students at each school receiving a full $50K grant would definitely be a big bang.