[galewind]

While it's easy to say that having 1089 win Chairman's on Saturday was my greatest moment in FIRST ever, I think it was the aftershock and realization that we have a new expectation to live up to that was even more amazing. We have a *lot* more work to do to, and armed with an amazing group of students and mentors, and absolutely AWESOME teams around us, I think we can help motivate more schools in our area to develop more opportunities for students to pursue science and technology, whether they become a part of FIRST or not.

Listening to our freshman and sophomore RCA presenters give their presentation today to the rest of the team, I was floored that our students have taken so much from the program in such a short period of time, and that they not only want, but they HUNGER to do more. It just reinforced to me why I have participated in FIRST for the last seven years.

Regardless of the issues that exist within the organization, or issues that exist within our team, our team winning RCA has made me think even more about how important it is to give students an ability to lead, an ability to communicate, and a knowledge and recognition that by being a cog within the machine that is a FIRST team, their responsibility and contributions make an impact in ways that they may not initially understand. Their accomplishments are fueling them, and many of them have never had to come to the realization that "hard work brings success". Too often students are missing that, and FIRST is a fantastic way for them to see it.

When I "accidentally" watched Wayne C and team 25 deliver a presentation to my high school back in 2002, I NEVER imagined that I could ever be a part of something so important, and I sincerely hope that I can continue to be a part of this team that's clearly taken up a life of its own, for many years to come.