Political Activism "Dean's Homework"

[Andrew Schuetze]

What to do now that the Regionals are over and Championship is days away. Follow up with all of your emails. We need to build relationships with our elected officials. What does one say in a follow up email? If you had any positives from your competition or season, tell them about them. Personalize the note a bit. Include a short note about how your team hosted a group of students and teachers from Brazil for two weeks while they were here for the competition.

If you are a team in Texas, send them this very important follow-up: State Senator Leticia Van De Putte has reserved exhibit space in the Basement of the Capitol building Rotunda for the entire week of April 23rd - 27th. This space will be used to highlight the various robotics programs that exist in Texas. Each day a different school(s) and team will demonstrate their robot in this space and be recognized on the Senate floor by their representative. Call, Email, Fax, or send your State Senator and State Representative asking them to stop by and visit with the teams that are there each day. Let them know that this is an opportunity for them to learn a bit more about the competitions and see actual robots without having to leave their offices or the capitol building. They won't have to travel and miss possibly important legislative buisiness to get a taste of what it is we all do. The schedule is as follows:
Texas Robot Exposition Schedule of programs

Mon, 4/23 - EARLY & GEAR EISD LBJ and Perales elementary schools
Tue, 4/24 - Botball EISD E. T. Wrenn middle school
Wed, 4/25 - BEST Austin area teams ...
Thu, 4/26 - FIRST Lego League & VEX Austin area teams ...
Fri, 4/27 - FIRST EISD 0499 Toltechs & AISD LASA 0418 Purple Haze

How did this come about and who is organizing it? It was a follow up email that I sent to State Senator Van De Putte last July. Our team first contacted her and other officials in 2005 when we were asking for help with obtaining Texas memorialbilia for the Brazillian teams that we coming to the Lone Star Regional. Our team served as ambassadors to several of the Brazilian and Ecuadorian teams that year.

So keep in contact and keep sending them letters, good will eventually come of these efforts and may take some time to get rolling.