Government Support for Hawaii FRC Teams

[waialua359]

The Hawaii Robotics Organization Committee (ROC) allocated $10,000 per Hawaii FRC team to help teams with materials, equipment and supplies in partnership with our local hardware stores (City Mill, Ace, etc.).

I knew that it was being planned, but to see it come to fruition is a pleasant surprise!

Personally, I've seen what great things can happen to STEM/Robotics education in a state when your Governor is 100% behind it.

[treffk]

I once went to a Q&A with local government people and afterwords I approached one of our representative with a question of if he ever thought that the Kansas government would ever allot funding for Kansas FIRST teams. I was shocked and appalled by his answer that he didn't deal with that type of thing.

I am glad to hear that some state governments are now taking the initiative to help teams while we are in this economy. I hope more states will start adopting this and promoting what FIRST is.

[JB987]

Drool...great news, Glenn...drool...I believe I suffer from a severe case of envy...drool...

[Rich Kressly]

Great news Glenn! It's always awesome to see what's happening in your state - with mentors like you and Governor Lingle fully on board I always look at Hawaii as a state we ALL need to learn from. Keep it going!

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Congratulations Glenn!

[waialua359]

I wanted to respond here for several emails/messages that I've been getting about how the funding became a reality.
I can only speak for our team and what we have done the last several years (but it certainly hasnt happen without a core group in the Hawaii Robotics community....i.e. team 368, 1056, and others).

Over the years, what started with pursuing a resolution with one of the representatives, getting the message out via the media, and working with local companies-ultimately turned into a technology innovation plan that our Governor initiated during her 1st term in office.

Both team 359 and 368 had to deal with major challenges in trying to compete in the mainland and spreading the message of FIRST in its early years, simply because you couldnt compete locally.
Inviting our legislature, business community leaders and our local community to our program, has been the most effective way to convince them that FIRST is a great program to invest in.
Sharing details of our expenses, challenges, and student learning experiences has given them a clear picture of just how tough it is to run a program, meet the challenges of FIRST, and paying for all of the costs associated with participation in competitions.

The sustainability/business plan, IMO, should be regarded as one of the highest awards at a regional competition. Simply put, its the one complaint/challenge that almost every team talks about when trying to participate in FIRST. I would imagine that funding can be the biggest challenge for a team versus fielding a competitive robot.
Our team has never relied on one huge sponsor that provided both mentors and funding. What happens when that sponsor can no longer provide the same level of services due to this bad economy?

Ultimately, the support from our Governor (legislature) has shown me that they are the most effective form of support that any team can garner on their own.
Make the effort!

[RoboMom]

Originally Posted by waialua359

The sustainability/business plan, IMO, should be regarded as one of the highest awards at a regional competition. Simply put, its the one complaint/challenge that almost every team talks about when trying to participate in FIRST. I would imagine that funding can be the biggest challenge for a team versus fielding a competitive robot.

Glenn, congrats on the hard work put in by your team and the other HI teams. I agree that the sustainability plan should be regarded as one of the highest achievements. It is good to see the trend with grants emphasizing this, such as the NASA grants.

My experience with teams in this geographic region is that mentoring is as important as funding for sustainability.