From Bill's Blog: Merits of replacing bronze participation medals

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

Basically, I guess what I'm trying to say is, if "you're all winners" is a fundamental ideal of FIRST, do kids (at the high school level) really need a symbolic reference to their experiences on a team, in the shape of a medal that is?

I don't fully buy into the 'we're all winners' concept. That is a broad statement that doesn't really say much. How did we become all winners? What did we do to become winners? Pay an expensive registration fee and participate in a robotic competition? Teams work for their achievements and earn those achievements and successes by the sweat of their brow, the strength of the efforts and the decisions they make each season. They test themselves against the framework that is the makeup of their team. They test themselves against time. They test themselves against the depth of partnerships they have developed with sponsors and with technical and non-technical mentors. They test themselves against the organizational development they have spent time on before and during the season. As teams move toward the competition season, that framework is the base on which their participation in the robotic competition lies and it portrays how robust the team is.

If teams make it through to competition, they have begun to achieve their goals. That is when they have earned the participation medallion and can proudly display it. If the participation medallions disappear and pins replace them, in keeping with their intention and significance - it's ok. Going the distance is cause for celebration and a medal or pin reflects that.