When do mentors go too far?

[Spikey]

Originally Posted by Andy A.

Dean Kamen, among others have wieghed in on this before. I can't think of a better way to put it. So I'll let that speak for me.

Portion of a Speech by Dean Kamen
1998 FIRST Competition Kickoff Workshop, January 10, 1998
The Center for New Hampshire, Manchester, NH
[imperfectly transcribed from a videotape]
copyright 1998 PNHS and GMPT

"I don’t know how many ways to try and continue to say it. . . What this organization is about is not education per se. I heard a lot of people, even last night, and I think they mean well, and I understand what you’re saying, there needs to be a balance, but I heard people saying "well sure that other team did great, but thats because the engineers did all the work. The kids didn’t build the robot." I have to tell you, FIRST is not an educational institution. Its okay if the kids build the whole robot, its okay if they don’t touch it. FIRST ought to be to education what the NFL or the World Series is to little league."


-Andy A.

I respect Dean a lot but I have to disagree with him on his point of education. FIRST robotics has become an educational institution and has been for a long time an educational experience. Anything that teaches students about organization, leadership, engineering, and design is inherently educational. I must say learning how to wire and and build a robot has been very educational, I have learned skills that I would not have learned anywhere else. Perhaps Dean has changed his mind today, but no matter what FIRST is inherently about education as much as it is about Inspiration.