UFH: Jason Morrella

[dlavery]

I am hard-pressed to think of anyone more deserving of this distinction. Over the several years that we have known each other, you have earned my respect, my trust and my friendship.

Woodie Flowers once said "FIRST is completely draining me, pulling all my energy right out - but I can't give it up. Because it is so overwhelmingly fulfilling to see the impact that FIRST has, and the future that it enables, that it makes the cost of the process worth it." There are probably only a few people with the depth of understanding and commonality with that statement that you have. You have sacrificed a lot, and endured a lot, to work with this program. But at the same time you have been directly responsible for some truly inspirational results.

A lot of folks know you through the legacy of The Cheesy Poofs, and their amazing winning streaks on the FIRST play field. But I first came to know you through the eyes of Steven, and Sara, and Rosa, and the other students there for the rookie year of Team 254. As I talked with them that first year, and asked what had made the biggest impression on them as they struggled through building their first robot and entering their first competition, every one of them had the same answer: their teacher. As I watched you work, it was blatantly obvious that you ran that team by constantly asking yourself "what is best for the students?" And the result of that approach was a set of students that blew us away, both on the field and off (and had the NASA Administrator in tears, but that is another story...).

Since then, as you have become more involved in the operations of FIRST, you have nurtured many more teams than just 254. You have been caught in the eye of more than one storm over the structure of events, team partcipation, and organizational responsbilities. And yet at every turn, you have always kept just one thought at the center of every discussion: "what is best for the teams?" Your unflagging dedication to the long-term welfare of ALL of the teams has been an inspiration, and a reminder, to those of us fortunate enough to have worked with you.

Congratulations, Jason.

-dave

p.s. I hope that you recognize that I will absolutely continue to give you crap at every available opportunity, and just because you won this honor you are in no way absolved of receiving abuse!