[Sean Schuff]

Congrats to all award winners at the 2008 Wisconsin Regional! There was a rich field of very deserving teams at the competition and I can only imagine the judges' decisions for who to acknowledge were not easy ones!

It was tough to come in second but to lose to 171 (a team that now has two NEW Apple Corps alumni on it) and 2062 (who's field coach is a visionary educator and a FIRST mentor to keep an eye on!) was not all bad. Kudos to both of your teams along with 2549 for winning the 2008 Wisconsin Regional! It was a ball playing against you in the finals!

Winning the Engineering Inspiration award was a complete surprise!! We do what we do becuase we know it is the right thing to do and it is good for our students, our community and our future. I had tears in my eyes as I came out of the judges line to the chants ("Schuff! Schuff! Schuff!) of our team members and felt embarassed that so much attention was given to me. Just to set the record straight, the NEW Apple Corps is all about its 38 students, 22 mentors, numerous sponsors and parents who support us every step of the way. While I may be the most public face of the team (my officially assigned task at the WI Regional was "schmoozing") we would not be the team we are without the countless hours of dedication, nearly bottomless well of patience, and technical expertise of all our mentors who so willingly share all of this with some of the most phenomonal students I have every known. This season has been one of the most memorable in my nine years with Team 93.

A special thanks to Fondy Fire for doing as we asked. Last year while we mentored them they asked what they could do to repay us for our help and our only request was that they pass on what we had given them. They certainly honored our request by mentoring Lancer Robotics Team 2437 from Honolulu, Hawaii and helped get their pit placed right next to ours in Wisconsin so we could both lend them a helping hand. Fondy Fire, in only their second year in FIRST, already embodies what we should all be trying to do - get the word out and inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and technologists.

Finally, thanks to John Budish and the rest of the planning committee for thinking of our team when it came to selecting someone to speak during the VIP luncheon. It was an honor to represent the teams at the regional in trying to convey to this group how powerful the impact of FIRST can be and why we keep coming back for more. FIRST is an experience like no other and I can't get enough of telling people about how it has changed so many lives, mine included.

We CAN change the world!!

Sean