Let's Help 1432 (school took $, threw team off campus, won't give back tools)

[Katy]

<edit>Such is the joy of working on topics in breaking news, the thread "Dealing with Disappointments" holds an interesting other side to the coin. Make your best judgements, I am leaving all this information here, and updating it as rapidly as I hear anything.

Originally Posted by Katie_UPS

As brought up in the threads that Katy linked to, hold off an emails until we receive more information. Uninformed emails will make 1432's "argument" less credible. Andrew Schreibler had some very valid points to make:

</edit>

Alright. I understand that there's already a thread discussing the problem and many expressions of sympathy, but I'm interested in starting a quick thread where we can talk about what can concretely be done right now to help this team compete this year. I want to keep this thread short, about fixing stuff, and mostly for logistics coordination among people who are fixing stuff. Here's what we can do.

1. Email the Principal/School Administration
   
   Let's keep it classy guys, no name calling, just expressing our concern, etc. Here's a sample letter to get you started.
   
   Hello,
   
   I saw this article http://www.thebeenews.com/news/story...22143848652900
   
   I was extremely sorry to hear that team 1432 no longer has space to work in, access to their tools, or access to the money they raised. As an alum of this program from another school, I can not tell you how important this program is to students all around the world in keeping them engaged in school, in helping them get into and pay for college, and in helping them find happy careers. I really hope you reconsider and permit this wonderful self-sustaining institution to be a resource to your students. I have no doubt they'll bring your school much to be proud of in the coming years.
   
   Thanks,
   Katy
   
   Now for the addresses:
   Franklin High School Principal: Shay James sjames@pps.k12.or.us
   Franklin High School Vice-Principal: Lavert Robertson lrobert1@pps.k12.or.us
   Franklin High School Vice-Principal: Ivonne Guerra iguerra@pps.k12.or.us
   The district school board: schoolboard@pps.k12.or.us
   District Board Representitive for Region 3: Bobbie Regan
   bobbieregan@comcast.net
   
2. Gain them additional press
   
   Looks like they were already on the front page of reddit and fark, as well as Grant Imahara and Adam Savage's twitters
   
   Reddit
   Digg
   
3. Help them regain 501c3 status
   
   I spoke to the team this morning, they need their 501c3 status reinstated to be eligible for grants. Is there a local 4H club, scouting group, etc they can partner with to regain this status?
   
4. Help them get supplies and tools to replace the ones lost
   
   Spoke to the mentor this morning. She's putting together a list, which will be available on their website shortly at http://team1432.org/
   
5. Help them secure funding to pay for competitions
   
   There is a PayPal button at the top of the team's website http://team1432.org It is verified to be linked to the team's new bank account, and not the one that goes into the school.
   

Mentor said she might drop by here later, but it looks like it has been a pretty busy day for her all and all. Valid contact info for the team is info@team1432.org

Alright guys, let's go make some grandmas proud!

Katy