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Unread 28-05-2016, 11:16
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evanperryg evanperryg is offline
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Re: FIRST Graduation Cords

Quote:
Originally Posted by CalTran View Post
Red white blue cords around my parts resident National French Honor Society. But more on topic, its unfortunate some places wouldn't let students wear the cords because of a slippery slope argument.
Same, FNHS' official cords are red white and blue, and are almost identical to the FIRST cords, with the medallion being the only notable distinction between the two. I agree with you fully; I don't mean to start a flame war but I'm not entirely sure how wearing a cord that represents the 1800+ hours I've spent on FIRST over the last six years equates to me disrespecting the military. As someone on the outside looking in (I was almost on the inside, one signature away from joining the Air Force) I know that the level of commitment, hard work, and patriotism required to thrive in the military setting is far beyond my imagination, but, especially considering that the red, white, and blue military cords are not a widespread standard, it seems unfair to imply that someone is disrespecting the military just because of the color of a piece of rope.

Considering the much smaller commitments other honor cords are given out for, (again, I'm not saying the FIRST commitment is remotely close to the scale of the military) it seems rather petty that schools would bar students from wearing their well-deserved FIRST cords. However, it might be possible to change their minds if we approached the issue in a more professional manner. I believe it would be to the benefit of the entire FIRST community if a professional, documented set of "standards for attaining a FIRST cord to wear in graduation" were drafted. Of course, it couldn't be branded as "FIRST Official" unless we got their blessing, but it could be helpful either way.

If anyone would be interested in working on making this a reality, PM me and I'll give you my personal email and we'll get a google doc set up. If people seem interested, I'll start another a̶r̶g̶u̶m̶e̶n̶t̶ f̶l̶a̶m̶e̶ ̶w̶a̶r̶ thread where people can offer suggestions for standards to be included in the document.

Quote:
Originally Posted by jfreds View Post
Thanks for all of the input. Being an Ex-school board member, the school board should set the policy that the administration enforces. I am still doing investigation to see if such policy exists. I would doubt it. To create a policy, it would have to be read at 2 school board meetings and voted on by the board.

You have hit the nail on the head. If the robotics team is allowed to wear cords, then likewise, the underwater basket weaving team should also be allowed to wear them. The bottom line is that the Minnesota State High School League now recognizes robotics as a sport and the members can now letter.
Oooh, didn't see your post until after I sent my own. Is it normal for an outside organization, like an honor society, to approach school/district administration with an already-documented set of standards for something like this? I'm sure it isn't a regular occurrence, but is this an acceptable approach? Would it be worth the effort to include that mentions that amendments agreed upon between board members and the FIRST team are entirely accepted and welcomed?
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Last edited by evanperryg : 28-05-2016 at 11:22.
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