[Dave Campbell]

1. What role do you play as a part of FIRST? I am the team advisor/lead mentor for Team 1038, also formerly with Team 144 (post-Chairmans Award) in the same capacity for 4 years. I am also the event director for a regional FLL and I'm the Affiliate Partner for Ohio FTC.

2. How does FIRST help students for the future? Students apply the educational tools they have accumulated throughout their education. They get the "why" that many classrooms cannot deliver.

3. What has FIRST done for you? I have been able to work with some of the finest students in our community over the past 10 years. I have also made amazing business contacts who will allow the students to succeed after they leave high school and college.

4. What do you enjoy most about being a mentor? Watching the students solve the game problems - and helping them achieve success.

5. How did you become involved? My school principal approached me about an activity that would be good for students. I contacted the sponsor of the team and began discussing the start-up of a team. The sponsor was looking to work with a new school, and they took my program in.

6. What encouragement would you give to new/potential mentors? Be careful, FIRST is addicitve. There will be difficult challenges you'll face personally, but the successes greatly outweigh the negative times. Make sure you balance your contribution to the team and your own personal life.

7. What are some of the rewards you get as a mentor? All intrinsic: lots of friends, students who keep coming back thanking me for getting them farther ahead in life than they expected.

8. How do you feel FIRST and being a mentor has affected you and your life? It has helped me learn balance between family, work and play.

9. What are some skills needed to be a mentor? Patience, knowledge, unique skills, dedication, humor

10. How have you used your background knowledge (profession) in being a mentor? I have a B.S. in Electro-Mechanical Engineering Technology - Miami University, and I'm a teacher by profession - 14 years teaching pre-engineering and computers. FIRST is my course of instruction.

11. What do you feel the biggest challenge of being a mentor is? Making sure the students get the full benefit of the program - even if it means the team does not achieve what the mentor could have done. Hopefully the team and mentor goals are aligned and also achieved, but that's not always the case...

12. What do you believe is expected of you? Gracious Professionalism - Always!

13. In what way do you feel that you help the kids? I give them the opportunity, they take advantage of that and achieve amazing things.

14. What is your favorite part about it? Having my new mentors show up after college and they were students in my program!

15. Why should someone become a mentor? It makes a huge difference in the lives of others. Take your knowledge, skills and abilities and give the kids a positive role model to look up to.

16. Anything you might want to add! FIRST is the best method of delivering an application based education that I have ever encountered in education. No matter what subject area- there is a correlation to something in the FIRST program.

Thanks