[RoboMom]

I’ve had the pleasure of watching another kind of collaboration this year. The 9 Baltimore area teams formed the “Baltimore Area Alliance.”
There are BAA teams that have lots of mentoring help, and others that have little. Each team has its own strengths and challenges. They want to have their own identity and build their own robots, but they have joined forces to help with fundraising and to help share resources. A local foundation donated the use of their 501©3, and there were grants to the BAA divided by the group. There were students from one team that did a fundraising presentation on behalf of the others. They held a common fundraising dinner. They are trying to help each other while competing. I believe this fits into Dean’s vision of “coopertition.” This group is still testing the waters and getting to know each other, figuring out what will work for them.

FIRST is all about partnerships, and each team has to figure out what works for them. What works one year, may not the next as teams often have to reinvent themselves. I hope everyone involved this year can realize the gift they have been given.