I would like to, on behalf of all the high schoolers on team 229, take this time to thank JVN and Eric O'Brien. They have made FIRST such a positive experience for me and many other students on 229. With their designs both crazy and cool, search our site for John's flying robot design

.They have made my first two years in FIRST such an enjoyable experience. I am now so into FIRST, I mean my homepage is ChiefDelphi

, that I don't think i could go a year with out it. I have learned so much from these two college FIRST-er's and I owe them so much. They are both amazing mentors, designers, and people.
This year I had the great honor of being coached by one Mr. JVN. He is an amazing coach and strategist. I always wondered why everyone thought of John as such a celebrity, he is just an amazing person that can teach us all so much. He took the time to introduce anyone to anyone they wanted. I met Paul Copioli, Andy Baker, Ken Patton, and so many more through John. I continue to learn more and more from John every day. Everything from gear reductions to mechanism design, John was always willing to help us to understand. I am sure he will always be spending some of his spare time searching these forums and posting advice for all the novices like me.
I also learned a lot through my time spent with Eric. Whether it was trig or physics, he always took the time to explain something we didn't understand. He was a great team leader and will be a great engineer.
I just want to say Good luck and thank you to John and Eric for all they have taught me and the rest of the team. They will surely be missed. They are great mentors, but more importantly great people. I will always think of them as my friends, even though they are 6 years older than me

. Thank you again to 229's graduating mentors, John and Eric, from all of us.
JT
229