FIRST in Danger

[robotstoo]

I'd like to post a suggestion on behalf of the regional staff in Richmond that Gabe contacted. While I have seen a lot of passion on the part of the student team members, there is a very vital piece missing from the effort: the adults who work with your team. While it is important to demonstrate in person what kind of change that FIRST has made in your lives, I cannot stress enough how very crucial it is to get the adults involved - The teachers, engineers, alumni, and most importantly, your parents.

With six years' history, you have to have some pretty impressive statistics and stories to tell. Take the next few days and get them together. Your team alumni should be getting home from college starting this weekend. Contact them directly and enlist their help. While it is great to have testimonials from other FIRST teams to help support your case, without clear, visible support from the adults on your own team, your effort may not succeed.

Best of luck to you all. Go out there and fight the good fight.

[Dave...]

Thanks to everyone for their input and support in our efforts.

Team #5 has experienced many trials over the past few years, and potentially losing our robotics lab is yet another blow to our team. Having just completed its 5th year in the FIRST event, we are glad to have endured this past year. Let me try to explain some of the problems that we have encountered and overcome:

At the end of the 2001 school year, our robotics teacher resigned to take an administrative position at a neighboring school district. Having started the team back in 1997-98 and working as a special project within the Physics class for the first two years, he expanded the program to include a semester long robotics class in the third year. Engineers from AFL, the sponsoring company, came over to help teach the class and build a foundation for which the teacher could use to teach future classes. In the fourth year, the class was expanded to become a yearlong robotics class. Engineers again came over to the school to help teach the class on occasion and to present additional material. In the fall, the class helped to start FIRST Lego League teams at our local middle schools. Unfortunately, little else occured within the class for the remainder of the schoolyear and a golden opportunity was lost. I can only imagine what colleges must think when they see "Robotics" on a high school transcript. "Wow, really? What did you learn?"

Upon the teacher leaving the high school, a new teacher was asked to be the robotics instructor and to take on the role of leading the robotics team for 2001-2002. This was made known to the team before the start of the school year, and little planning for the year was able to be conducted. Thankfully, several parents stepped forward when they heard the robotics teacher was leaving, and were interested in keeping the program running. They have been extremely helpful in organizing the activities of the robotics club which is open to all members of the student body meeting outside of school hours. The class, however, was left to the new teacher who ultimately resigned after 2 months. So, in October, we were again left without a teacher.

A teacher who had been with the school for several years was asked to take over the robotics class and the extra-curricular robotics lab. Unfortunately, she stepped into the program midstream with little background information and only a glimpse of what the program has to offer. As any FIRSTer can attest, it is not until you attend a Regional, experience the enthusiasm and meet other people who are genuinely interested in science and technology that you finally realize the impact the FIRST and these robotics programs can have on young people's lives. She stuck through the year and saw firsthand the importance of the robotics program (class and/or club) and is now excited about being able to teach the class from the beginning of next school year.

Not only did our team suffer from a lack of consistent teacher presence, but they also had to endure several financial burdens.

With the slowing economy, our sponsoring company had to significantly reduce their funding. This leaked out in the spring/summer of 2001 and soon the students were under the impression that the company was bailing out completely. This was not the case, but what a way to spend a summer! The students thought the sponsor and teacher had both left the robotics program. I can't even imagine what they were thinking would happen to the robotics class that they look forward to so much.

As previously stated, we started this past fall with a new teacher and very little funding. The parents and students came up with many different fundraisers and worked feverishly to raise the money. This was recognized at the Canadian Regional as we were presented the Entrepreneurial award. Passing out flyers, collecting pop cans, working concession stands, selling pizza kits, conducting raffles and knocking on doors of local businesses for their support were instrumental in raising the cash needed for the year.

I am proud of what this team has done. Having less than 15 students (only 2 of which are males), we accomplished far more than what people might want to give credit.

The students put in close to 1000 hours in fundraising.
The engineers and machinists worked over 1700 hours.
The team raised over $30,000.
The teacher and parents participated in countless ways.

Now, we are in jeopardy of losing our robotics lab. Without a lab and a place to build, drive and test a robot on a playing field, it doesn't really matter how much time and effort the team members put into this program.

Our school district boasts of a grand Technology Plan. The FIRST program motivates and teaches students, supplies powerful software tools such as Autodesk Inventor, 3D StudioMax, Microsoft Office and Frontpage and lets students meet CEO's, Chairmen, and directors of organizations such as NASA, Delphi, Visteon and General Motors. This certainly helps to achieve this goal.

Sports and athletics are important, but so are academics. Woody is right when he says there is something wrong about naming an engineering marvel, the tunnel connecting Boston Logan Int’l airport to the city, after a baseball star (Ted Williams).

This is why I, too, am concerned about losing our robotics lab to yet another physical fitness endeavor. The athletic teams in our school have support (like all other schools across the US), and we need to keep what little resources we have.

The number of students who will actually continue into college and eventually make a career in professional sports is very slim compared to the number of students who could continue on after high school, attend college and land a job in a technical profession.

A number of our graduates have entered engineering and related fields in college due to our program, and several have continued as interns and co-ops with our sponsor.

The dreams have to start somewhere. The FIRST team shows students that they can achieve whatever it is that they put their mind to.

Without our lab, I'm afraid that it will be very difficult for Team 5 to exist and have continued success.

Let me close by thanking the other teams for their kind words. It is always our privilege to help out other teams and explain how our robots operate. We enjoy working with you just as much, and look forward to seeing those familiar faces and teams at the competitions while making new friends as well. It is nice to feel the support from all over the nation and as far away as Brazil!

Please do all that you can to keep your team alive and well.

Sincerely,
David Bryer
Engineer and mentor,
Team #5

[Ben Mitchell]

If you need an essay, please, feel free to use this. I wrote it as part of a presentation, about my experiance's with FIRST. Hopefully, It'll be one of many you can show them to demostrate the impact FIRST has had.

Good Luck, and have you tried talking to the FIRST staffers in your area?
********************************************

Last year was my first year of involvement in FIRST robotics. In the six weeks of building, and the actual competitions, I had the privilege of working with some intelligent, creative, and caring adults. In the course of the year, I worked closely with engineers, parents, as well as business people, and the FIRST staff. I was transformed by the experience, from someone who knew nothing about engineering, to one who loves the field. The engineers at Bihler, our corporate sponsor, were instrumental in helping me learn about the engineering process. No matter how late, or busy, they could always spare a minute to explain something, or to listen to an idea. Being a part of the team introduced me to a world I had never before seen: the world of engineering.

When the opportunity arose for me to mentor elementary school students with LEGO Mindstorms, I jumped at the opportunity. I had bought a Mindstorms set during the year, and I found building with it had quite a bit in common with building a big robot for the FIRST competition, but was safer, and easier to use. I wanted to share my knowledge with the younger kids, and mentor them in the same manner I was mentored by the adults of team 303.

We gave the kids a challenge every day, and they had to build a robot to complete it. Most had never used a Mindstorms set before, and it was amazing seeing the wonder on their faces as they built their first robot. They couldn’t believe it. They spent a few hours every day, explaining to each other about the different robots, and talking about drive systems. The mentors of the Summer Robotics Challenge, managed to get twenty elementary schoolers excited about engineering. So excited, in fact, that they would rather work on their robot than eat lunch. It was then we knew we had something special. FIRST could work even on an elementary level, with LEGO parts. The messages and programs of FIRST bring technology and engineering to children in a fun and engaging way. Since the program, unlike an athletics event, always has room for improvement a design, as well as infinite approaches to the same problem, FIRST can teach far more than just a single task or game or event. It teaches ideas and values that are used just as often off the playing field: Gracious professionalism, as well as creative thinking.

FIRST has changed my life, and I will continue to try and give others the same experience by expanding the FIRST program to a many places as possible. No matter how glamorous sports programs may seem, only a fraction of students can earn a living as playing sports. There is a future in engineering, and FIRST helps bring this future to young people across the country. FIRST has made me love teaching young students, and helping to introduce them to one of the most important professions in the world. . It felt like I was making a difference. I was introducing these children, whether they realizing it or not, to the field of engineering. They loved it. It was something they could do, and could continue to do, years from now, and still not learn it all. It would help bring kids out of dead-end lives, and into a successful world of knowledge, and education. It will allow them to be independent thinkers, and break the mold that society may have branded for them. It doesn’t matter how strong you are, or even how smart you are, in FIRST. It’s about ideas and learning, and that never stops at the end of season.

Thank you, FIRST, for changing my life around.

Benjamin Mitchell
Bridgewater-Raritan High School
FIRST Robotics Team 303
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[Little Lee132]

Our High schoool has a mission statement for our school district:
The mission of Melvindale-Northern Allen Park Public Schools is to provide an educational enviornment which will challenge students and prepare them to become productive members of a global society. We are dedicated to continuously improving the quality of education through cooperative efforts of school personnel, students, their families and members of our community. We believe that all students can learn and achieve personal success.



Doesn't robotics get us ready for a global society? We have already been to Canada, we have met people from Brazil and Bossnia. It shows us how to get along w/ other people by using GRACIOUS PROFFESIONALISM. Also robotics helps improve our education in science and technology. And I'm almost positive that everyone on our team has achieved personal success. So if our robotics team goes along w/( and reaches way past )our mission statement, then why do they want to get rid of it? Maybe that's omething we should ask them.......

[CheckeredSkaKid]

Hi, this is Les from team 5. Once again, I can't thank all of you enough for all of your support and ideas and everything else you hace contributed.
With all of your help, I believe that we have prepared a fine presentation that we, tomorrow, will present to the school board.
Thanks again for all of your contributions, emails, phones calls, ect..., we surly couldn't have done this well with out you all.
I'll update you later tomarrow, after the meeting to tell you how it went.
Thanks once again.

[Abi]

I thought the board meeting was on Tues.

[Dave...]

Thanks again to everyone for their support.

Please be advised that the high school and board office has heard our concerns. We will be making a presentation to the school board in the near future and we ask that you please refrain from any further emails and phone calls.

Similar to spam and telemarketers, an overwhelming amount of support can quickly become tiresome and even burdensome.

Have a great summer!

On behalf of Team #5
Dave...

[Abi]

so no board meeting tomorrow?

[DanL]

Originally posted by Dave...
we ask that you please refrain from any further emails and phone calls.

I take it thats a good sign for you guys in terms of support?

[Robocardgrl5]

Yes, you guys can take Dave's message as a good sign. The principal is working with us and not against us. No matter what we'll still be Team 5. we just might be relocating but nothing is set as of now. Thank you for your support. We all appreciate it.

Rachel
Team 5

[DanL]

Bringing back long-lost threads, what's going on with you guys and your room? How's the fight going for you guys?

[Raven_Writer]

Originally posted by SuperDanman
Bringing back long-lost threads, what's going on with you guys and your room? How's the fight going for you guys?

Ok, to do the same....we got a new room (sadly it's the In-School Room). It's quite nice....when school starts again, I'll take a picture of it and post it up here. We did a lot of nice things to it.

[NOTE: Mod's - Sorry about re-covering this thread...I just sorta figured I'd inform people].

[Amanda Morrison]

Some teams never have any space as it is. My suggestion would be to fight for what you have to the death... but in the instance that you lose the space to athletics, work in a basement/see if a local business will loan you space/do anything you can.

It's very possible to have a team without the space you are trying to claim - it's just how hard you work to adapt to what you have.

It's great that you've found a space for now, but should you ever lose it, don't let your team die just because nobody decides to leave room for you. Show them that you are more than just a school team or school club, and find your way around them.

[sanddrag]

One idea I had was that if there is a YMCA near they usually have a few empty rooms. You could try to work out a deal with them to use one.

[DanLevin247]

Originally posted by JosephM
Hey that would be funnny. Dean comming in on a Segway to a school board meeting. I can see it now.

....Complete with a bad arse flame paint job, and an ontorage of members of the FIRST community.


As for team 5, I'm lucky enough to have a good friend from that team, Matt Attallah. Matt is a great guy, and I've had the pleasure of having him over to my place before, another member of team five is Eric (ravenwriter), another cool guy. It's a real shame to hear that ANY first team is being put out by anthing, even moreso an athletic program. I'd be happy to do anything and everything in my power to ensure that the robocards stay around. Great team, with some great members.

As someone mentioned above, robotics isn't know widley enough yet, and that's a major problem all teams will always have to face, coming out of the shadows and making ourselves known is a good thing for every team to strive for. It's obvious...FIRST members will take over the world someday.


As for team 5, I hope that all goes well with your'e efforts to prove to your'e school board that the robocards are very worthy of staying where you are, good luck!