FIRST and grades

[ttldomination]

It's an interesting point you bring up. The results, in my experience, vary based on the type of student.

Take, for example, your above average student. This student (he or she) is going to be valedictorian or salutatorian or some soft of -torian . This student has to fight to power past anything and everything. I have seen student(s) like this go sleep less nights during the season, but their grades never move an inch (especially not down).

Take, for example, your still above average student, but this student is already enlightened to the ways of FIRST. This student found out, a long time ago, that school is easy and it's simply sufficient to pay attention and do the work. For these students grades slip. They may slip from A+ to A-, or from a solid A to a B+, but they will slip. The mind can only be pulled in so many directions.

Last, but not least, take for example a FIRST student who did not his or her options. To go from days spent at the skate park to days developing a machine, it gives a student some perspective. These student often see a rise in their grades. I personally have seen such students go from shaky A/B/C to solid A+/B students with an additional increase in rigor.

FIRST does what it does, but if you choose to take grades as a metric, you must also force some perspective.

- Sunny G.