Community Service For Chairmans Award.

[Bcahn836]

The only reason i created this thread was to get some ideas on what other teams are doing in their communities. Last year team 836's chairmans award entry was good but the judges wanted to see more community involvement and i just wanted to hear some of the ideas and things that have worked out well for other teams. And so far all the ideas posted are and will be of great use, to get our team better known in the community and help the growth of our team. I don't think a team should do community service just for chairmans award but to further develop its team and its members and spread inspiration and the goals of FIRST whenever possible.

[RoboMadi]

This year, right after the Championship, our team worked on helping a disable kid with his mobility. It was really challengin as the kid was only 10 months old, and has limited legs and arm. We used ultarasonic sensors ( which was really hard to program) and infrared sensors to make it more safe. Other than that, the user interface was another BIG porblem.
Our hardwork got paid, and our county approved it with $ star safety rating.
you can find pictures at www.chantillyrobotics.com/gallery
Thisproject was not only appreciated by the community , but also by the well known doctors at INOVA Fairfax Hospital. I guess, this year we are goin to use this technological success as the basis of our Charimans award entry; not mentioning the community service and FIRST_OUT_Word boths we had done so far.

[Kims Robot]

Originally Posted by Petey

I decided to post this thing that I messaged to Beth after I realized that perhaps I had been misunderstood--or not made myself clear.

To sum, nothing gains higher marks than a positive promotion of the FIRST organization and the spread of benevolent technology within your community.

--Petey

While I have no intention of starting a flame war, I have to agree with Beth here... maybe for other reasons though.
When you say this:

Originally Posted by Petey

One important thing to remember is that if it isn't based on spreading technology, FIRST doesn't care.

I think it is misleading.
#1: I havent been at a single regional EVER (in my 10 years) where FIRST employees were the judges of the CA. Perhaps that is just nitpicking, maybe you meant "The representatives of FIRST dont care"...

#2: It is good that you are sharing your experience, but my guess is that is just from one, maybe two regionals. Different judges & judging teams can be looking for different things. One regionals judges might be looking for more technical depth, another's might be looking for more breadth across the community.

#3 The words "dont care" are harsh. Perhaps you earn higher points for more technically related things at your regional, but thats not to say that they dont view your impact on the community as positive. I would hate for teams to stop doing community service just because it "didnt win them the chairmans award." Our team uses CS for teambuilding & getting our names out in the community as I mentioned above. This can hugely tie you into opportunities to do more technical type presentations.

Personally I hope all teams can look past the "winning" and the "losing" awards, because in the end, awards are just another piece of plastic on your shelf. Its good to have lofty goals, but that shouldnt embitter you. Its just a game, and the more important thing is the family that you build and the experiences & lives that you change.

[richardp]

Originally Posted by Bcahn836

Our team is having a hard time trying to figure out ways the team can both help the community and spread inspiration in engineering and technology. I know some teams do that by starting Lego and Vex teams, but money is an issue and we cannot start teams just yet. So my question is what are some ideas or what does your team do to spread FIRST and help the community at the same time?

If you cant start a team then display what you have. Create a very simple project or task and bring it to different demonstrations at elementary schools or senior citizen homes etc. Doing hands on stuff especially with the younger students will connect with them better than just showing off a robot. The more interaction between your team and any group you go out to the stronger the connection.

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by richardp

If you cant start a team then display what you have. Create a very simple project or task and bring it to different demonstrations at elementary schools or senior citizen homes etc. Doing hands on stuff especially with the younger students will connect with them better than just showing off a robot. The more interaction between your team and any group you go out to the stronger the connection.

Indeed, another local team (1398) started holding programs at the local library, which passed word of the concept all across the country. (Something must've worked--it won them EI at Palmetto.)

[Alex Burman]

Does all community service in the chairmans award submission have to be about science and technology? Or could you put on general community service as well? I know FIRST is all about spreading science and technology, but couldn't you also do things like an adopt a road program?

[RoboMom]

"The Chairman's Award is presented to the team judged to have created the best partnership effort among team participants and to have best exemplified the true meaning of FIRST."

Judging this is really hard work. There is no formula. Do something that is meaningful, inspiring and have some fun. Be proud of whatever you do. There are many more teams that deserve this recognition than awards given. Figure out how you can feel ok about this at the end of the day and keep moving on. Don't do something to win an award; do it because it feels like it is the right thing to do.

RE: your Chairman's award submission. Proof read and have someone who doesn't know much about FIRST read it through and ask questions.
RE: your Chairman's interview. Practice this a few times. Have someone ask you some tough questions. Be realistic about how long it takes you to say something, so the judges don't have to cut you off.

My personal wish is that more teams would post their entries so we can all learn. Kudos to those who have voluntarily done this on cd, as I am using these as examples for all the rookies here.