Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?

[Doug G]

Originally Posted by pfreivald

I think that the greatest thing that Bausch + Lomb sponsorship brought to 1551 is the requirement that we strive to win the chairman's award every year...

Absolutely a great idea, if only more sponsors promoted that. I know NASA used to put that requirement into their grants. Wouldn't it be amazing if some large organization that GETS FIRST, could do some sort of grants for non-rookies that stipulate a future funding on CA submissions (not necessarily winners). Maybe the first year is a $1000 grant, and 2nd year is either a $0, $1000, or $5000 grant based on their CA submission. Maybe even a 3rd year option as well. Not that teams do a CA for money, but those that are doing amazing things each year are encouraged to continue their effors. As in the case of 3 HOF teams submitting at the same regional in one year. Just a thought....

As an educator, I highly value the reflective point of the CA. You will find that for many folks, the best learning happens through or after a reflective period. In most high schools they go through a WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges) accreditation process that is 90% reflective in nature. You spend 6 mo's reflecting on the state of your school, it's mission, where it has been, where it needs to go, accomplishments, and areas of needed improvement. The top honor is usually a 6 year accreditation. It simply means your school knows what it needs to do and are doing it the best they can.

This year our team modeled some of it's CA process after the WASC process. In fact our school's WASC coordinator headed up the CA entry. It was by far the best CA submission we have ever done, and we didn't win. We simply couldn't compete on the level of Team 115 (congrats to them - they are an amazing team). It shouldn't reflect negatively on us and I've tried to make that point very clearly with our team of how successful they are in this area, and what we can do better with the resources we have. It's the process that is important, and no team should forget that. If every team went through this process, we would more sustainability and program growth.

[Mr. Ivey]

Time for me to come out of my usually quiet corner. The Chairman's Award should not have a bar. We should never say a team has set the bar for this award! It is a bad notion in my opinion. If we say there is a "set bar" it will deter teams from trying at the goal of doing a Chairman's project.

It is not the award that teams should strive for, it is not the fame or F.I.R.S.T. legend they should work for, but the achievement of making an impact on the life of another, without the intent of personal gain. Every student, mentor, and coach should be working for the desire to change themselves. Only when you change your mentality, can you work to change the world around you. When you have the mentality that the Chairman's Award is set so high that you can't get it, is when you have lost site of what this goal really is about. It's about being selfless. When you gain that, then why should it seem an out of bounds goal.

So if a rookie team can go beyond the struggle of starting the team and can impact the community around them in a positive manor, why then could they not be considered for Chairman's.

Forget this "bar" mentality, go for the goal of being selfless in nature. This is what I see as the basics of the Chairman's Award, a team being selfless, and for the benefit of the community, wether global or local, around them. Miss Daisy did this to their full potential and effect, that is all F.I.R.S.T. asks of us. To be selfless and to do good to our full potential, whatever that may be.

Hope I made some form of sense there.

Ivey