Quote:
Originally posted by jburstein
The most needed type of growth is in FIRST's goals. FIRST's name, standing for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, states it's goal very clearly. Inspiration, hooking the interest of the student, is a critical first step in education, but it is merely a first step. FIRST has inspired enough students now to have 'critical mass.' FIRST no longer needs to restrict itself to inspiration, it can move on to educating.
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Reducing the mission statement of the FIRST organization by denying the importance and value inspiration can and has had on the program and its students is insulting to those of who work so hard to take those words and turn them into the tangible reality you see at competitions. Removing an effective, essential component of this progam is not growth at all.
See, the real key to FIRST's success is its open-ended mission statement and the varied opportunities it facilitates. FIRST has no curriculum, but instead provides a set of very loose, liberal guidelines that let us do everything we can to get kids excited about some of the coolest stuff in the world. It let's us show them how to build robots, sure, but it also gives us the opportunity to give them a window into a much bigger, more exciting world. They get to see what we do at school and at work, and they get to see how those things, along with the tenets of Gracious Professionalism, have shaped our lives.
As a mentor, I try to think of myself as something more than an encyclopedia of mathematical equations, physics principles, and mechanical design components. I like to believe that I am a role model, and all of my actions reflect that belief. For me, the role I take in designing and building a robot is secondary to what I can give as a
person.
There are thousands of engineers out there that know their stuff and, given the chance, would make excellent human reference books. Then, there are the really good
people, like Andy Baker and Ken Leung and Jason Morella, who are so amazing and useful and
inspirational because of the strength of their character. Engineering prowess has nothing to do with it.
I think what you're proposing is among the worst ideas pertaining to FIRST I've ever heard. If you want to petition FIRST to instate some rule the reduces the participation of these amazing people such that any old reference book is equally useful, go ahead. I don't believe that you'll receive any support from those of us who've been touched by their lives, or who are trying to have a fraction of the same effect that they have had.