A small step for robotics in WA state

[sciencenerd]

I have some exciting news for FIRSTers in Washington State and the community at large! My team arranged a meeting with a representative who serves in our state legislature in Olympia to explain FIRST (with a focus on FRC) to him as a potential recipient of funding. Our goal in the presentation was to help him see how FIRST teaches and inspires students. The legislator, Rep. Fred Jarrett, is a member of the education appropriations subcommittee, which puts him in a key position to bring FIRST forward before the general body.

The presentation, which was officially an hour long, went flawlessly! He was very interested and asked informed questions (Rep. Jarrett is currently a manager at Boeing in addition to his work with the government), and I believe our answers impressed him. He stuck around fifteen minutes longer than scheduled to ask questions.

What's most exciting, however, is that right there on the spot he invited us down to Olympia during their next session (which unfortunately overlaps with build season) to present to the legislature! He also gave us the names of eight (I believe) other legislators who he thought would be likely candidates to support us in our request for state funding. We are currently arranging a group presentation to them for some date in December that is TBD. We also will at that time invite them to come see the Tacoma competition, and find out what FIRST is really like. We have already invited Rep. Jarrett and he is going to try and schedule a visit.

Things are changing... by my count there are currently six states with official support for FIRST. Washington could well become the seventh, and hopefully more will soon follow suit! What an exciting time to be involved with the program.

[dlavery]

Very well done! This sounds like an excellent start on getting some real state-level support for the program.

-dave

[Akash Rastogi]

Congrats you guys! Hope everything works out.

-Akash

[Darren Collins]

Well done! Thank you for helping share the message of FIRST. I'm still new to FIRST, but I am amazed how effectively this program has fostered engineering and technology interest in our school. My students can't wait to utilize their newly developed skills in this years' competition.

It looks like you have everyting under control, but let me know if you would like to have students from our club in attendance during your presentation. Thanks again for a job well done.

[sciencenerd]

Originally Posted by D Collins

Well done! Thank you for helping share the message of FIRST. I'm still new to FIRST, but I am amazed how effectively this program has fostered engineering and technology interest in our school. My students can't wait to utilize their newly developed skills in this years' competition.

It looks like you have everyting under control, but let me know if you would like to have students from our club in attendance during your presentation. Thanks again for a job well done.

We will probably be contacting area teams to help out with the Olympia presentation if/when that happens. 2046 is certainly on my list; you guys were awesome to work with for the joint practice field and at the regional. I personally think you were by far the most exciting rookie team at Portland last year!

[Pavan Dave]

I like this a lot but the thing I don't like is the FIRST-ONLY focus. I am hoping though that FIRST is only the start and that sooner or later the shift to robotics education is seen and becomes the spotlight. But I do understand you have to make baby steps so I hope and pray that FIRST = baby steps.

[sciencenerd]

Great news!

Back in January, 1318 gave a presentation to the Washington State Education Appropriations subcommittee requesting state funding for FIRST. Well, just yesterday we received confirmation that as a result of that, $150,000 was written into the state budget to fund FIRST teams for the coming year. The exact terms that the money will be awarded on are still unclear (I believe there will be some sort of grant application process) but we are working on clarifying that and will report back as soon as we know.

One more thing: this is certainly not determined for sure yet, but there's been talk that Governor Gregoire herself will be in attendance at the Tacoma regional to announce the funding. That would be really cool if it ends up happening.

[Vikesrock]

Originally Posted by sciencenerd

Great news!

Back in January, 1318 gave a presentation to the Washington State Education Appropriations subcommittee requesting state funding for FIRST. Well, just yesterday we received confirmation that as a result of that, $150,000 was written into the state budget to fund FIRST teams for the coming year. The exact terms that the money will be awarded on are still unclear (I believe there will be some sort of grant application process) but we are working on clarifying that and will report back as soon as we know.

One more thing: this is certainly not determined for sure yet, but there's been talk that Governor Gregoire herself will be in attendance at the Tacoma regional to announce the funding. That would be really cool if it ends up happening.

Nice work! The more states get on board with FIRST the easier it becomes for the rest of us to try and follow suit.

[Caio]

Very nice! Its great to hear you guys are making these leaps in advancing FIRST in the Washington state!

I'm currently the founder and leader of the Washington SWAT robotics team that's made up of FIRST alumnis that will be attending the Tacoma regional to help out rookie teams and also help coordinate help at the competition. If you need any help, or maybe just want representation of post-FIRSTers in college, I'd be happy to help. This year its small (due to time constraints) and only made up of a few students, but I do have a large list of FIRST alumnis in the Washington area.

So, if you need anything don't hesitate to ask! If this new funding brings about a bunch of new rookie teams (which I hope it does with some funding going to existing teams) then I'd be happy to help you guys or any other team interested in mentoring those teams if needed. I'm wanting to expand SWAT to not just helping at the competition but during the build season as well.

Good luck and look forward to seeing you guys at the regional!

[Darren Collins]

Originally Posted by sciencenerd

Great news!

Back in January, 1318 gave a presentation to the Washington State Education Appropriations subcommittee requesting state funding for FIRST. Well, just yesterday we received confirmation that as a result of that, $150,000 was written into the state budget to fund FIRST teams for the coming year. The exact terms that the money will be awarded on are still unclear (I believe there will be some sort of grant application process) but we are working on clarifying that and will report back as soon as we know.

One more thing: this is certainly not determined for sure yet, but there's been talk that Governor Gregoire herself will be in attendance at the Tacoma regional to announce the funding. That would be really cool if it ends up happening.

Nice work 1318!

Thank you for your efforts in sharing the message of FIRST with our leaders in Olympia. In my short time with this program, I have witnessed its amazing impact on my students. It is truly great news that our state politicans are realizing this also.