UFH: Wendy Wooten

[CD47-Bot]

Thread created automatically to discuss UFH Honoree: Wendy Wooten.



Name: Wendy Wooten
Date Honored: 07-31-2004
Years involved w/FIRST: 8
FIRST Team(s): Boeing Rocketdyne/Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers/FADAL Engineering & Chatsworth HS (0022)
Role: Teacher and Mentor
Quote: “Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” -Albert Einstein
Bio: Wendy Wooten is our first female Unsung FIRST Hero, and a deserving one at that. Working closely with Team 22 and helping them achieve great recognition in recent years, Wendy is well-known for her dedication to FIRST.

Wendy is sincere but passionate about her accomplishments. "'Sharing the passion' is the motto of Team 22, and I think that best describes our accomplishments. As one of the two original SoCal FIRST teams, we have worked diligently to promote FIRST, both the FRC and FLL, in southern California. Extensive recruiting and mentoring of rookie schools and teams, hosting off season competitions, events and workshops, volunteering at other Regionals, sharing our resources (both material and fabrication capabilities) and creating and establishing school curricula in robotics are among the goals we have set and achieved. Currently we are encouraging other teams to run LEGO-Robotics and Robovation Summer Camps (as we have for the past 4 years) which serve as outstanding fundraisers and effective FIRST promotional activities."

Wendy also gives us a bit of insight on her favorite FIRST memories: "[It] would have to be when Team 22 won the 2001 Chairman’s Award at the Championship in Orlando, FL. It was such a great honor, and I was so proud of the Team – the kids, the parents, the mentors and the sponsors – and the tremendous dedication and hard work they put into the program."

After such great memories, Wendy tells us a little bit about her feelings towards the program. "As an educator for over 30 years, I have yet to see an educational program which even comes close to FIRST. It is an engaging, hands-on experience rich in the application of teamwork, problem solving and critical thinking skills. The quality of all FIRST competitions and events is extraordinary and the support provided by the FIRST staff is phenomenal. The greatest treasure of FIRST is the impact that the experience has on the students. The skills they gain, the confidence they develop, the camaraderie they share, all result in raising the students’ own aspirations and focusing their future pathways. The more that you and your team gets involved in FIRST, the greater the rewards they reap."

Congratulations to Wendy Wooten, our seventeenth Unsung FIRST Hero, on UFH's first birthday.

Nominated By: DCA Fan

[Marygrace]

MAJOR CONGRATULATIONS WENDY!!!! From all of Beach Cities Robotics. You are one of a kind, and do major things for the FIRST community. You have been a mojor supporter for our team and cheered us on. You will always have a place in our hearts. I wish everyone in the FIRST community could have a chance to meet you and get to know you. Always a smile on your face, an answer to any question, and advice for anyone that needs it. You deserve this honor, congratulations again! *REALLY REALLY BIG HUG* I actually got tears in my eyes when I read your honoree description. I am soooo happy for you. I am excited for the school year starting, that means that soon our teams will cross paths once again!

[Redhead Jokes]

So thrilled to hear from my daughter Marygrace, "Wendy's been nominated!!!" Wendy is critical to our team's success, SCRRF's success, and important to our family. She's a wonderful warm hard working woman who has been very supportive.

Wendy, you deserve all the best.

[Andy Baker]

Wendy is an amazing woman. She is a hero to me and many other long-time FIRSTers. She is dedicated to promoting FIRST as a whole, while also keeping close tabs on making sure that her students get great opportunities to lead and experience FIRST. With her leadership, team 22 has blazed a trail for FIRST not only in Southern California, but across the nation.

She is bold, but caring. I've seen her carefully nurture a student at one point and then kick another student in the pants when they needed it.

FIRST is an amazing community. I look around and sometimes think "I wonder what FIRST would be like without THAT person." I'm here to tell you, FIRST would be drastically different without Wendy. It would be sadly less prosperous and successful than it is today. Her impact is huge.

Thanks, Wendy, for all that you do. From spearheading the formation of the SoCal regional, mentoring countless teams, volunteering your team to work an entire event, helping FIRST when they need you, and being a role model to the rest of us. You don't realize it, but you challenge all of us to be better people. Here's to Wendy!!!

Andy B.

[DCA Fan]

Congratulations Wendy. Thanks for continuing to inspire me and other students (and mentors alike) to give it our all in everything we do. *bows down*

[Josh Hambright]

Congrats Wendy!
You really do deserve this!

[Amanda Morrison]

Congratulations to Wendy Wooten for being our 17th UFH.

[Cory]

Wendy is awesome. Practically every competition I've been to in the last four years, I've seen her there with members of her team volunteering. Queing, field reset, you name it, even when their team isn't competing at that event.

Wendy truly is an asset to all of FIRST.

Cory

[Karthik]

A big congratulation goes out to Wendy. I met Wendy this past year when she brought her team all the way out to Toronto for the Canadian Regional. She really understands what the 'I' in FIRST stands for.

[Bharat Nain]

Congractulations Wendy, well deserved!

[Mr. Van]

I'd like to be the first to state that I would not be involved in FIRST if it were not for Wendy and the same could be said of the some 200 students who have been on our team. On their behalf I must express our sincerest and deepest gratitude. Thank you Wendy for making the adventure possible.

So, lets start a list of teams that have been started, mentored and supported by Wendy Wooten and the fantastic members of Double Duce. We'll start - and I know there are many others out there.

Team 599 - RoboDox from Granada Hills Charter High School (2001)

-Mr. Van
Coach, 599

[KarenH]

Way to go, Wendy! You definitely deserve this honor.

[ChrisH]

All teams in Southern California have benefitted by Wendy and the things she does. Her real job is FIRST. That little gig with LAUSD just pays the bills.

She initiated a couple of big ideas that have spread country wide:
1) The weekend before ship scrimmage. (started in 99?) Last year's scrimmage in Chatsworth had more teams than some Regionals
2) Pre-Season seminars for teams. (started in 2000?) Last year's had several hundered attending.

In both cases the event grew so large that they could no longer be supported by a single team, so she got SCRRF started. To help organize the support. She is an amazing woman and I'm glad to know her.

ChrisH

[Krystine T.]

GO WENDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW! Wendy's has had such a gigantic impact on my team that I don’t even know where to begin. Almost every aspect of Team 60 has been improved by Wendy's input. So many of the things we do originally came from Wendy and Team 22. For example, our FLL Camp, FLL Competition, Scrapbook, and Marketing Manual have all been successful thanks to Wendy. Whenever Team 60 has a question we always go to Wendy for the answer.

Not only has Wendy affected Team 60, but she has also set a great example for myself and other young girls involved in FIRST. I always look forward to seeing her because she always has something interesting to teach.

So thank you Wendy for all of your hard work. You truly deserve to be the Unsung FIRST Hero.

Sincerely
Krystine Thoroughman

P.S See you in a couple of weeks!

[Amanda M]

Congratulations Wendy! There's no one that deserves this moe than you!

When I was first involved with FIRST and team 60, everyone always talked about how nice Wendy Wooten was, and how great she did with her team. I can see why. She is one of the most wonderful people I have ever met through FIRST, and she really deserves to be UFH.