Originally Posted by Nibbles
It isn't just politics, it is good fund raising and marketing advice. The best way to spread the message of FIRST will be through the contributions of private donors.
From my last post, a case in a point: Our district treats us awful. Our school is great, but the district administration is one of those large bureaucratic ones that suffers from instruction creep, institutes policies at the rate of, well, it isn't bad, but it can be measured in words per week, all because they see numbers on an excel spreadsheet that don't match their expectations. Our school is actually somewhat sane, but that might have to do with the fact they are just sock puppets, our school makes none of their own policies, funding, pay, paperwork, computers, it is all handled by the district.
As it goes I invited all the key policy makers to the regional with a very nice letter explaining what FIRST is about, and a quick overview of the game.
Interestingly only one person replied, and it was after the competition, she was out of town. Our school principle did come, but that was school level, and wasn't my invitation. I plan on trying again this year, but months in advance, and by both email and a letter and maybe pair of safety glasses, and perhaps a singing telegram just to be safe.
Some of the specific rules are the very definition of a "team," purchase orders, accepting donations, complete lack of support from IT despite the fact the district mandates it, a supposed ban on private team/club websites which I interpret as not applying to us (it very clearly states it applies to administration and departments only), restrictions on meeting times and places, limitations on fundraising, being the most troubling.
My point is we (attempted to) spread the word of FIRST and get support when rules were written for sports teams and not the only FIRST intensive robotics team in the district, and some general bad treatment from a handful of staff members. We are making progress in baby steps, but it is happening, and probably in time for this coming season.
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