[tribotec_ca88]

Well Team 1382 (ETEP Technology High School, São José dos Campos, BrAzIL!!!) has actually received a whooole lot of attention! We are literally the *Elite* students at our school, I suppose (with the exception of me, of course, i'm no genius), all the kids worship us (although some spit behind our backs) and everything we touch turns to gold...anything involving robotics, anyway! (LoL) Just kidding!!!
But we do get a lot of attention, and it's great. Teachers & staff are so supportive and most students are too. I'm proud of the impact we've had on our school, it's really made people look at us and treat us differently...We've been on national media (Rede Globo, which is like ABC/NBC in the States). That's been pretty helpful...Johnson & our school have contributed financially to the project, and being on tv/newspapers/magazines & all makes money look like it grows on trees!!!
I guess it's because we dont have any sports teams at all at our school, and we dont take "normal classes" (we learn electronics, mechanics, computer science, telecommunications, etc) so our school values FIRST so much more than any other regular high school would...
But I feel soooo bad for American schools that dont receive any credit for their efforts...nearly every team works just as hard as the next and its sad to know that in some cases their not being recognized for it!!! But just wait! I agree that FIRST will take over the world someday! WhooHoo!