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Unread 27-04-2010, 14:38
Rich Kressly's Avatar
Rich Kressly Rich Kressly is offline
Robot/STEM troublemaker since 2001
no team (Formerly 103 & 1712. Now run U.P. Robotics (other programs))
Team Role: Mentor
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Rookie Year: 2001
Location: Pennsburg, PA
Posts: 2,045
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Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?

Desiring quality feedback isn't cheesy at all. Focusing solely on the extrinsic motivators and progressing from a standpoint of "what FIRST wants" solely, without regard for and discussion about intrinsic motivators, is, in my opinion, a bit cheesy.

Take it for what it's worth, I'm wrong a lot.


Now, Ike's questions with my responses:

1. How do you motivate your newest members to take on a noble cause? The kids we have worked with for 2-4 years seem to get it (some quicker than others). How should we be motivating the newbies?

Kids will certainly "get it" on different levels at different times. However, for the past five years with 1712 I've made an exhaustive effort from the beginning to do these types of things:
a. "You're here to have you life changed for the better - forever."
b. We built a motto with four legs of passion, leadership, perseverance, community and we pay equal attention to all of them
c. Our team members, all of them, spend as much time on outreach and community activities as we do on technical learning. Our robots are not as competitive as a result (we still do ok-ish), but I'm good with that. I certainly can't argue with the students we are turning out.
d. I explain over and over and over and over again that "only" building and competing with a robot is not something I'm interested in and participating in outreach is every bit as important. Not only will it help our community, it will build a mind and skill set that will give every student a leg up in the world while they are making it a better place.

2. How do you switch a team driven for the win over to driven for the goal? Especially when you are external to that team. As the number of teams increase, how do we plant the seed of altruism into an ever growing population. While this may not be Team 33's responsibility, it is the responsibility of FIRST as a whole and more specifcally how it applies to FRC.
Something I think a lot about and have posted on. Search around here for my "mainstreamers" theory. The desire and effort to win MUST still be there, but not at all/any cost. If we're not meeting the real goal, why bother? Let's just all go back to playing sports and yelling at refs and taunting other teams, right? I just continually preach, and then show successful examples from around FIRST and life, we invite in FIRST alums, we go visit them at work to see the REAL results, etc. It's an inexact and exhausting science, but we're doing OK with it.

3. Should someone that truly understands what Chairman's is about even re-submit? I am ok with a reactionary answer to this question, but I would much prefer some in-depth thought as this one has been bugging me since the Michigan State Championship.
Are you asking about a regional, state, or championship "win"? For some that might make a difference in the answer. For me, as long as a team is within the given rules in a year, it doesn't matter to me what a team does. If a team chooses not to resubmit and chooses to help other non-submitting teams to do it the first time, great. If a team resubmits because they want the students to experience the process/interview and they decide to provide a model to chase after, then great too. I do feel, that no matter what, each team should still document and prepare the award entry AND deliver the presentation to someone important (a school board, a sponsor, etc) in addition to or instead of event judges.
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