[Waynep]

Kathie and Jenny,
It was great seeing you both. Thank you for bringing this up. With nearly 50% of our teams falling under the first through third year category we were a little concerned with the preparedness of the teams. Especially considering the number of younger teams that struggled to pass inspections at other regionals even during the first day of qualification matches. Fortunately, we had a very diligent crew of volunteers and teams who stepped up to take the rookies under their wing, make sure their machines were running and programmed, made matches, developed strategy, and understood the general flow of regional competitions. Many of these younger teams shared how great of an experience you guys made it for them. What a better way to indoctrinate Gracious Professionalism then to show them first hand right off the bat! This Rookie/Young Team Assistance program will continue here in Boston. I want to thank the members that staffed this program:

-Paul Hendershott, whose daughter is on the planning committee, and flew out from Colorado just to head this program
-Jenny Beatty
-Corey Balint
-Kim Masi
-Tom Bottiglieri
-Greg Marra
-Dave Ferreira
-Robert Masek

Also, kudos to 125 the Nutrons, 246 Overclocked, and 1403 Cougar Robotics, who spent countless hours on Thursday and throughout the competition helping these younger teams.

I apologize if I missed anyone (please add to the list), but I am very grateful to you all for making this program vision a reality. You guys get FIRST and truly made Boston an amazing event.

Best,
Wayne

Aroon, it was great seeing your spirited thank you to the mentors. You've done this at two regionals so far, NJ and Boston. Each time it gets better. I can't wait to see what you have up your sleeve for the CMP