[Beth Sweet]

I can't find the final copy Nay, but here's our draft right before the final...

*******************************
Chairman’s Submission 2006


Evan Bowling was a student who never got involved in school activities. He enjoyed making creations with Lego’s and similar things. While thoughts always ran through his mind to do something technical, he always figured he would decide when the time came. Then Team 1504 burst through the doors of Grand Ledge High School. To him, this was awesome. He had never done anything like it before. It was fun to do and he loved the building process. Being on the team gave him a different perspective and a new way to look at things. When the time for the competition came around, the team looked for a student leader for the Pit Crew. Evan was the obvious choice. He went through the remainder of the season and went off to college. When it came time for the next build season, computer science engineering freshman Evan Bowling was on the mentor list. The best part however, was how excited Evan was to be working as a mentor with the same team on which he had once been a student.

Our team may only be in its second year of competition, but we already have a track record that even long-term veteran teams would be proud to boast. Last year, the team was highlighted in two newspapers -- the State News (MSU) and Grand Ledge Independent. Team 1504 was also featured in a short segment on the Lansing ABC affiliate’s evening news program, as well as Michigan State University’s award-winning TV news magazine, Focal Point. In each of these media, team members took the opportunity to tell the previously-unaware community about FIRST. Students were quoted in the Okemos High School yearbook and were the focus of their page. News of the robotics team was also spread through word of mouth. Team members chatted with classmates and family members, as well as wore team t-shirts to school. As the premiere FIRST Robotics team in the Lansing area, our team had quite a task ahead of us and stepped up to the plate as the leaders.

Last year’s lack of funds didn’t stop Team 1504 from making a huge impact on team members and the surrounding area. Students started from scratch, learning everything about the build process. From the basic “how-to” on building a robot, to electronics, to machinery, to the design process, students entered a whole new world -- the world of engineering. Some made new friends, others learned the importance of having ample funds, and everyone learned how their role in the team could only be fulfilled through commitment and responsibility. Each person was given a task that they had to do, knowing that if they slacked, the rest of the team would also suffer. At every meeting we had during our season, an attendance sheet was passed around to ensure each student was present to do their job. Students, however, were not the only ones impacted. Our mentors are scarcely older than our students and over the past two years have gained a great deal of knowledge about working with people and about teaching. For the last two years, the Lansing area found itself surrounded with news of our team and of the program in which we participate, FIRST.

Team 1504 is a leader that every team could learn from. Like many teams, we work with a combination of schools. Each of our three schools, however, is from a different district and the team’s time during the build season is split between the schools. We use the machine shop at one of the schools and the drafting materials at the other. Our team can also “make it happen” with very little in the way of supplies. Last year, we used many scraps to create our robot. Members of Team 1504 have become what the students have called a “robotics family.” Participants who didn’t know each other before joining the team have formed friendships that would not otherwise have been created. The reason that our team is the leader, the team that every other team should look up to, is that we don’t know the meaning of the word “quit.” Giving up is not in the vocabulary of this team. When most teams would have conceded, ours just buckled down and worked twice as hard. Last year, the team’s motto was “go BIG or go home,” and a better description could not have been used.

Starting the season earlier is one of the activities that our team has done in an effort to create a year-round program. In our rookie year, our season started with the build season. We began at the beginning of January, adding our second high school four days before Kickoff. This year, we began our season in September, and held meetings for fundraising and to try to make sure that this season would be better than last. We meet three times a week for three to four hours each meeting. Our time committed to the program has increased greatly this season. We also attended the fall Kettering Kickoff event with the help of Team 217. Although we did not win any major awards, we formed valuable ties with other teams. These ties gave us connections to sources of help and friendship. Over the summer, students even invited one of their mentors to play in a paintball tournament (the students won). During the off-season, our team members stay involved on the Chief Delphi forums, improving skills and sharing knowledge.

Team 1504 is preparing to embark on a journey. Recently, our team was asked to be the leader in the creation of more Lansing area FIRST Robotics teams. In the coming months, our team will be working to create rookie teams to compete in next year’s game. While we have no expectation of this being an easy task, we are excited and ready for the challenge. We can share our knowledge based on previous experiences and achievements with these new teams, because we feel that such information should be shared. We are thrilled that we have been asked to take on this mission.

Our team exemplifies the true meaning of FIRST. Inspiration? Each of our seniors last year went on to college. 75 percent of them went on to major in engineering. What really tells us that our team is making a difference, however, is that half of them have come back to mentor our team. Recognition? Two newspaper articles, two TV debuts and yearbook acknowledgment within the first year warrant an exemplary amount of recognition. Our kids are learning real-life lessons. They are learning teamwork, cooperation and how much fun engineering is. These skills are valuable lessons that cannot be acquired through textbooks. They are all very important in the process of students growing up and becoming contributing members to our society. We are the leaders. We are the premiere team. We are Team 1504, GEOmotion.


Executive Summary

Our program has taken students who had nothing more than a slight thought that they might be interested in engineering to a point where they have been involved in a project and have confirmed their suspicions. Our students have all gone to university and half of them have come back to mentor our team. 75 percent of them are majoring in engineering.

Team 1504 never says "die." We have made it through trials that would test the patience of any team, but we have prevailed. Last year, our team survived on a budget around $7,000; $6,000 of which went to our initial payment for the regional and Kit of Parts. All of our mentors are either parents or university students. We work with high schools from different districts, utilizing resources from each.

We have been featured in two television news programs and in two newspapers. We are the first and only Lansing area FIRST Robotics team. We are doing everything that we can and making a good FIRST impact on the area. This is one of the things that our team is the most proud of.

Our team has been asked by the regional director for the state of Michigan to be the team that kicks off the FIRST Robotics program for the Lansing area. It is the capital of Michigan and an essential area to have inundated with the message we are trying to spread. Plans are currently being put into place on exactly how we will be creating new teams in our area.

Our strongest partnership is between our team and the schools with which we work. We use the drafting and computer facilities of Okemos High School and the machine shop at Grand Ledge High School. Both principals are highly supportive and excited about our program. Okemos High School featured the team in the yearbook last year and both schools plan to have the team in yearbooks this year.

Our team has communicated well both within our team and to the community around us. Our team has a website with a full calander and information for the team members. We have been featured in two newspapers as well as two television news programs. Community awareness is increasing, just ask people who live in the area. It is a slow process, but people are beginning to take note.

Our team is amazing. There is nothing that we cannot do if we so desire. When most teams run on budgets of at least $30,000, our rookie year team ran on $7,000. We built fantastic robots both years. Our kids are learning, and they love the program. We know that what we're doing works because our students come back to mentor. That, more than anything, tells us what we need to know. Our program makes a diference to the students who are a part of it. That is the most important thing to us.