2016 Chairman's Hall of Fame Predictions

[cadandcookies]

Posted my thoughts in this thread (just to round out the Chairman's previews for the year), but I'll post a slightly less verbose version here.

Basically, my top three are 987, 1311, and 3132. They're three extremely different programs that have all the trimmings of a "Chairman's team" in addition to some absolutely fantastic ways of making a measurable impact on their and others' communities.

Primary pieces that make each stick out:

1311: The most concrete and clear plan for integrating FIRST into an educational model I have ever seen, and demonstrable progress towards implementing their plan. Their essay and presentation focus on making it clear that implementing their "21st century education model" is one of the core and driving things about their team, and that it isn't a substitution for starting and helping other teams and traditional "Chairman's stuff." I'm going to try to make it over to the Dome (the team I'm mentoring is in Union Station) to pick someone on their teams' brains about sustainability because you all are clearly a team that has given it a ton of thought.

Next up was 987. I talked to you guys last year about the shop bot my team's high school got, and you guys were some of the most immediately friendly people I've ever met. Reading your essay this year cemented in my head that you guys are an incredible team with an incredible story. Building such a fantastic program that has impacted your community but also the new FIRST programs in China is incredible.

Last up was 3132. I am hard pressed to pick a favorite here, but if you twisted my arm a bit and bought me a shake at Bailey's Range, these guys are who I'd pick. Reading your essay and talking to you guys at Northern Lights, I feel like you guys are just an order of magnitude above anyone else when it comes to global impact. Building a sustainable program in our country and working to spread that model to other parts of the world is work that we all ultimately benefit from as FIRST becomes a truly international competition.

Whoever wins it this year is going to leave the biggest shoes yet to fill.