[nehalita]

Hi, I'm from team 1345. Our mentor, Mr. James Payne, won the Florida Regional WFA. First, I need to say thank you to several people who made this possible.

Thanks to Arefin Bari for being insistent on this submission. You reminded me almost every day and truly made me realize what Mr. Payne does behind the scene. As a student, we only see how we are effected by our mentors but do not always realize how our mentors are effected by us. You inspired me to write it and I wouldn't have finished it without your encouragement.

Thanks to Amanda Morrison for helping me edit the content on the essay and for her positive feedback. It may not seem like much to you, Amanda, but you have always been there whenever I needed any help with my writings. You helped me with Chairman's last year and with my essays for college. For anyone out there reading this, this woman is a miracle writer! We can all learn from her.

Thanks Andy Baker and the past WFA recipients for posting in Andy Baker's thread. By seeing people as appreciated as you tell us how easy it is to write it and how much it means to you... I realized how necessary it was to write one up myself. Your positive words definitely made a significant difference (I'm taking Statistics; I'm sure there can be some statistics I can find to show that the difference was significant indeed!).

Finally, thanks to the past WFA writers. I read a lot of your essays and realized that the 600 word limit wasn't so bad to fill up... actually it was harder to keep it to 600 words. You guys made me realize how important it is to recognize those who deserve it. Your entries are amazing and your mentors are even more amazing. Keep it up.

And of course, CONGRATULATIONS to Mr. James Payne!

My essay (submitted in the post it of the thread by Mr. Rich Kressly with the other WFFA entires) was about how Mr. Payne affected the team as a whole but it does not amount to how he affected me personally.

Mr. Payne is currenlty my engineering teacher and he was also my teacher as a freshman. I have seen him for more hours than I have probably seen all of my friends combined. I have even eaten lunch with him for approximately 3 years. This man was the reason I even began to like engineering and desire to make a name for myself. He made me realize that I had talent and potential and that it was only right to tap into it. I know that if I ever need anything, he will help me.

When I was a freshman in his two engineering classes, I barely knew him but he seemed to already know me and know that I would do well. He would encourage me to participate in all the competitions we take part in: the cardboard and plywood regatta; the SECME brain bowl, water rockets, mousetrap car, bridge, and essay contest; JETS/TEAMS competitions; BEST competition with the notebook, presentation, and display; and finally with FIRST by pushing me to program the robot, pulling me in to teach me how the electrical and mechanical aspects of the robots and help fabricate the robot itself, and giving me the daunting but intensely exciting task of scouting. This man has fought for me YEAR ROUND, not just for 6 weeks!

No one will understand how much he puts into our team until we spend a whole day with him. He puts his grading on hold and will take the time out to pick up some students and drop them home whenever necessary without uttering a SINGLE complaint! He is still a wonderful father to his family and an excellent teacher at school (even after we wear him out for those 3 hours of robotics every day).

On the ride home from the competition, instead of sitting back and listening to music, we had an excellent conversation. There were three of us awake in his car and we talked about everything from society to what we wanted to do next and how. See, he could easily pack up and tell us "see you in january" but instead, we are starting on a new project: Project Pimp My Golf Cart because he auctioned to get a golf cart for our engineering magnet and he's going to take it apart and let us learn about it and how to improve it and put it back together. Eventually, we want to remote control it.

Finally, I would like to congratulate and thank him for the way he runs our team. If you ever visited our pits at Florida Regional, you would probably notice that he hardly ever had his hands on the robot. He taught us from the start how to put the robot together and how to problem solve on our own. He will tell us what to do and show us whenever possible but IF we COULD work on the robot, we did. He never prevented us from doing this and we know so much because of it. You just have to see the look he gets on his face when he gets materials to work with -- he looks like a two year old with a huge grin on his face.

On top of that, the only reason I am still at Stranahan High School is because of his hard work. Stranahan would be nothing without Mr. Payne and Mr. Platt (affectionately called the Playnes).

I am so glad we was recognized for what he did. Thanks Mr. Payne and congratulations =).