[Bill Gold]

I’ll add my voice to the thread, echoing what many have already said. It may not be public knowledge to all teams in all areas of the country, but for the past few years NASA personnel have been surprised that not very many teams have applied for their grants. Each year there are a handful of perceptive, and well intentioned veteran teams who apply for some of these grants and get them. This 16, 71, 93, 135, 399, 801 thing this upcoming year is nothing new. Everyone who’s upset (because they’re also a 3rd year or older team, and didn’t apply) should keep this in mind, read the fine print, and do some legwork next season and, if you can, sign up for a NASA Regional and apply for a grant, yourself. This is a learning from mistakes thing, not a “let’s [cry] and moan about how we didn’t read the guidelines for grants” thing. While you’re at it, look at things like Team Ford FIRST.

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I would also like to thank NASA for their support of FIRST. I (along with countless others) would most definitely not have been exposed to FIRST had NASA not been sponsoring teams and Regionals. Thank you so much everyone!
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