Community Support

[Ginger Power]

A couple of weeks ago, our high school football team won the state championship. Many of us on the robotics team were extremely happy and supported our fellow classmates on their monumental accomplishment. However, seeing our community's reaction in comparison to how it reacted when 4607 won the Minnesota State Championship for robotics in 2013, soon became an eye opener.


On the Friday of the game, we had a pepfest/send off for the team, who was allowed to skip classes for a team breakfast and other preparations deemed necessary. As for the remainder of the student body, a handful of them were excused from school early to allow for more time to get down to the stadium for the game. By comparison, our robotics team has yet to persuade the administration to allow us to attend more than one regional event since the administration counters that we would miss too much school.


After winning the state championship, the whole football team was escorted into town by police cars and firetrucks where they were welcomed by a community-wide, late night party on the football field. After winning the state championship for robotics, we felt more akin to an afterthought being that we barely earned a walk through the halls during the week after our accomplishment.


Now admittedly, Becker, Minnesota unanimously defines itself as a football town. Robotics is a new extracurricular that many people within the community (and administration) oppose for political reasons. I understand that people believe we need to prove ourselves as an organization before we get certain privileges that are offered to the football team. However, despite this, it continues to be a frustrating situation.


I actually played for the Becker's football team last year, and I have many friends on the team this year. It is important to note that I am not at all resentful toward the team itself. I suppose my disappointment is more focused on the community's neglect to prioritize and continually support more than just our football program. My hope is that, with time, this might begin to change, and that people will begin to realize precisely how important FIRST Robotics is for young individuals and our society alike.


Thankfully, we are off to a good start. Our rookie year of FRC, our team had 24 students. Now, we have 60 kids who plan on joining this year, which is uncharted territory for not only robotics, but also almost every other activity in Becker, excluding football. We clearly have substantial student support, but community-wide support is still being questioned as I have previously stated.


More than anything, this situation has made me think extensively about FIRST's mission of changing the culture through its robotics programs, starting with one community at a time. I feel as though I now understand and support the reasoning behind this mission statement on a more personal level. Have any other teams experienced something similar to this situation? How do other communities react to FRC programs?

[stufflikethat]

While it may be unfortunate thats kind of how life is. Awhile back my high schools girls basketball team won states and was nationally ranked. They had no more than 30 people in the stands for any of their games. They also had no special treatment. Our guys team was only second in the league and the gym was always packed for them.

All you can do is try to be the change that you want. People are not going to get hype about robotics just yet. Maybe at one point, but it sounds like your town like many others will just take time.

[Deke]

Originally Posted by Ginger Power

More than anything, this situation has made me think extensively about FIRST's mission of changing the culture through its robotics programs, starting with one community at a time. I feel as though I now understand and support the reasoning behind this mission statement on a more personal level. Have any other teams experienced something similar to this situation? How do other communities react to FRC programs?

You're exactly right that this is the mission of FIRST, to change the culture on how Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics are viewed. This is also what the chairmans award is all about, a culture change.

You can take a look at some of the Hall of Fame teams in first to see how they approached this opportunity (I like opportunities instead of problems), or even here on CD. There are quite a few white papers on here of team's chairmans award, you can take a look at them to see how they handled it.

[mrmummert]

Our team here in Franklin, Va. 1610 has the same problem. Our Football team has won state twice. We've been winners of the Virginia regional three times.
So i guess you could say we've done better than the football team.

The football team gets a band and cheerleaders. They have their own weight training building. One year one of the local companies here donated jackets for the entire team. They also got signs at all entrances to the city noting that Franklin's team were state champs twice just to name a few things.

We've gotten a few write ups in the local paper and some recognition at school board and city council meeting...and we meet and work in a old gym that before we started using it was used for storage and isn't in the best of shape and is about a mile from the High school.....so we get nothing like Football gets.

We have a very small High school...about or just under 400 students total.
We have to compete with all the school sports when it comes to recruiting students for the team. We've had a couple students who have or are doing three other school related things at the same time they are in robotics.

There is still the mind set in our community that Sports gets you more attention and is "sexy" for lack or a better word. I sometimes tell students and some parents that in the past 60 years Franklin has produced only a couple people who went on and played pro sports and did well. I tell them that a student who does robotics and goes on to college to go into a stem field has a better chance at doing well for life than if they try sports. I'm not discouraging anyone from doing sports and hoping they do well....I just state facts. Until our community produces someone like a Bill Gates, or like Dean Kamen the mind set here isn't going to change much. But don't let things like this discourage you. Team 103 is a good example of what a small community and robotics group can do.

[protoserge]

It is really unfortunate that this is the case all over America (hopefully our non-American FIRST family can chime in as well!). There are a few exceptions, and those communities "get it".

I'll say from my experience that some school systems don't understand what FIRST is. They see it as a robotics competition where you build a robot and try to beat the other teams. The problem is that this is true and it's usually the first explanation given by participants to explain the program. This one sentence can change the outlooks of the entire program. Part of what Dean was explaining by "FIRST is not about the robot" is that we need to explain to others that FIRST is a program that builds an exceptional skill set of creative, real-world problem solving that is transforming the workforce of tomorrow (and today).

As you pointed out, there are some political reasons (SkillsUSA was a huge impediment and seen as competition for the team I mentored the past 4 years. It shouldn't have been, but it was.

One thing to remember is that FIRST is just about to come into a second generation of FIRSTers (FIRST baby pics!). The largest FIRST student population is just starting college. Change will come, but it takes time - we are talking about a culture shift by the way The FIRSTers that are entering the school systems as teachers, industry as engineers, researchers in academia, accountants, small business owners, marketing professionals, media content creators, innovators (and all the others) are just starting to make strides as they transform into industry leaders, school administrators, and highly-sought-out employees. This is one of the reasons why Dean's message this past year was that FIRST needs to do a better job of tracking its participants. You'd be amazed at how powerful one email asking for help and support can be.

On the topic of school support, your voice is important. Make it known by the community that the school needs to support its other teams. Get parents involved. Parents are extremely important and their message only reiterates what the students demand. If there is anything I regretted as a student, it was demanding excellence and more education from my education system. I felt I was being forced into a box of conformity. Don't be silent and don't be pressured into conformity. Demand change, but always be respectful and understanding of the school system's viewpoints (remember that GP and that teachers need a life outside of FIRST too).

[RoboMom]

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...hreadid=131278

[ehochstein]

I happened to drive through Becker, MN yesterday and thought of this thread. It is pretty amazing how many signs I saw for the football team, every store front and business has something boasting about the football team. In fact the city sign that says the population as you drive had a bigger sign bolted right next to it boasting about the football team. i'll see if I can grab a picture on the way back.

To me, this presents a great opportunity for culture change, as a team I would go and document how the community celebrates the football team and make it a long term goal that they do the same for robotics. If you document everything along the way you will be a strong chairman's contender.