CNN Special Featuring FIRST, Sunday 5/15

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by falconmaster

Being on the inside shows how much they must edit and cut to make it understandable for the general public. The let us see the pre screening and it had more facts about education and how teachers ate not respected in the US like in India. They also left out how only two students in the whole state of Tennessee are studying to be a physics teachers. The doc was about education in the US and they used FIRST as the vehicle. The true test is to see how people who don't know about FIRST react to it. We are all inside because we notice all the flaws, we need to step back and see what effect it has, then judge it.

I think people will be very interested in the robotics event that the students attended/competed in but I think the impact will lie in seeing and acknowledging the failure and inconsistencies of our educational system. For example, Tennessee really needs to raise that bar and I'm glad to see that they are working on it. I thought it was great that they followed the 3 amazing students and their experiences in classes and with their teams. I was very surprised that the student from NJ was so far ahead of the student in AZ in the math classes. And that there are no AP classes for extraordinary students like Brian to take advantage of in Tennessee. Wow. And yet he still scored in the top 1% of the nation on his ACT.

By the way, I wrote down several quotes from the documentary and, as always, just about everything that 842 people say becomes a quote that I find an awesome use for.

Thank you all for the inspiration and the opportunities for non-FIRSTers to see just how amazing you are. You exude excellence (and commitment to it) as a value in your lives.

Jane