[archiver]

Posted by Elaine Anselm, Engineer on team #191, X-Cats, from Jos Wilson High School and Xerox.

Posted on 4/30/99 12:21 PM MST


In Reply to: Re: a box with wheels posted by michael bastoni on 4/27/99 5:27 PM MST:



Some of our adult and student team members have discussed the idea of the same game year over year and we unanimously agreed it is not something we would like to see. Xerox has partnered with Wilson High School in FIRST since 1992 and we have never looked at producing the most competitive robot as our primary objective. Some years we do well, others we don't, but each year we come home feeling great. We feel that the same game year over year would put too much emphasis on winning.

There are going to be great robots in the finals, I have no doubt about that. If our robot is not among them we are all ok with that - adults and students (even if we think our robot should have been there). Each year we work really hard to make the best robot we can and some years our capabilities are better than others. We state right up front with everyone that if there is a conflict between building a more competitive robot and inspiring kids, inspiration wins out, every time. I know we inspire kids regardless of what the robot does at the competition.

As far as the same game, some of our thoughts about it:
Our team builds half of the excitement into the anticipation waiting for the rules. It is like a party.
We attract adults to the program who are just as excited to see what the new game will be. We have graduated students who come back on kickoff day, just to see the game rules.
The same game reinforces the competition as the most important thing, not the engineering and inspiration of students - over eight years we have found countless ways to inspire students that are not centered on placing #1 or #2 or even #32
With the same game, returning teams would have all year to work on perfecting their designs. Some teams have all new kids each year, so in this case, who is doing the perfecting? The adults? Teams that don't participate could put their old robots up for sale to new teams (That's probably a little extreme, but maybe not)
When you start to place the focus on winning, it is too easy to see winning as the objective, then, if you don't win, you have nothing.

Sorry, but I have to give a thumbs down to this approach.

Elaine