Mahalo from Team 359: Waialua High & Intermediate School - The Hawaiian Kids!

[waialua359]

As Lead Teacher and Coordinator of the Waialua Robotics Team, I would like to express our thanks to the many individuals, organizations, and Hawaii State Government for our team's recognition of the 2011 Championship Chairman's Award. Without the support of the many who has helped our team the past 12 years, this would not have been possible.

-The Cheesy Poofs, Jason Morella, Mark Leon, and NASA Ames.
-All of the former and current members of the Waialua Robotics Team. i.e. students, mentors, volunteers, teachers, school, community, and administrators.
-The Hawaii State Government-former Governor Linda Lingle, Alex Ho, Corrie Heck, Lenny Klompus, Friends of Hawaii Robotics, the Hawaii Regional Planning Committee
-Team 368-McKinley High School - Team Kika Mana (T.K.M. 368)
-Major sponsors-Castle & Cooke/Dole Plantation, the McInerny Foundation, R.M. Towill Corporation, Ted's Bakery, Waialua High School Foundation, Waialua Federal Credit Union, and the NUMEROUS other sponsorship we have received in the past.


12 years ago, FIRST was introduced to me in our school library. Who would have thought that this program would forever bring promise and change to our community and culture.
As a rural school that shut down its sugar plantation in 1996, our community lost its identity of 100+ years, and things did not look good for several years, while many were leaving to find new jobs and careers. I personally saw our student enrollment go from 1200 to 800 literally in just one year.
As a former electrical engineer who changed careers in 1994 to become a science teacher, I had thought about leaving the school to either change careers or move to a school closer to Honolulu, since things didn't look too promising. 17 years later, I am glad that I stayed and FIRST has everything to do with it!
FIRST provided us with the inspiration to dream BIG and to set goals for ourselves!
-Students going to college.
-Students pursuing careers related to STEM.
-Students competing at a national/international level, being able to travel to different places and experience different cultures as well.
-Students participating in outreach activities and collaborating with other schools.
-Students problem solving, actively engaged in the engineering design process, learning time management and workplace readiness skills.
-Students forming life-long relationships within the FIRST community.

At the same time, our team was able to face and meet the challenges of participation in many regional tournaments in both the US and Japan. It forced us to address sustainability, create a business plan, set short and long term goals, and look at ways to spread the funding we received to help others. We NEVER made excuses, blamed others for our shortcomings, or was jealous of other team's successes. Instead, it did the opposite. It motivated our team to work harder, set bigger goals, and dream BIG!
I believe that of all of our strengths, this is our greatest attribute.

We dedicate this award to the State of Hawaii and the Hawaii Robotics Community, and for every one of you who has had a difficult time during this season or last, who has had to struggle with funding, losing mentors, and other shortcomings. We are living proof that a small, rural school community can become champions with the right attitude, determination, hard work, and generosity. Work hard and good things will happen.

For me personally, this is perhaps the highlight of my teaching career, and I hope to do FIRST for many years to come.

Sincerely,
Glenn Lee
Team 359 - The Hawaiian Kids