HUGE Congratulations to Kellen Hill for earning the Woodie Flowers Finalist Award at the Peachtree District Championship this past weekend.
Kellen has mentored Team 1746 OTTO for as long as I remember*. He is both fiercely competitive and incredibly generous. He shares ideas, parts and help with anyone who asks, and just so happens to be a really nice person as well, even as he is thrashing you in competition.
It was an absolute honor to have the opportunity to participate in the awards ceremony yesterday to add such a tremendous asset to PCH into the motley WFFA crew we have here in Georgia.
I really want to echo my congratulations here. Kellen is by far one of the kindest people I’ve met in FIRST and VEX. I’ve been super fortunate to volunteer with him at VEX worlds and he truly cares about the kids and the team experience.
Kellen is one of the most inspirational individuals in PCH. He has consistently coached 1746 OTTO to the top of competitiveness since I first met him as a student. Always fiercely strategic but never forgets how to joke about. There is no one I would rather talk with at events.
Here’s to Kellen, as deserving of a WFA as they get!
I’ll echo everyone’s congratulations. We were very grateful to 1746 for picking us at the state championship, and Kellen and everyone on OTTO made the experience nothing but a pleasure. I’ll be looking forward to whenever we get to cross paths again.
Kellen has been with Team OTTO for 10 years. In those 10 years, Team OTTO has gotten better and better each year. In 2013 and 2014, the team made playoffs at the Peachtree Regional; in 2015 the team went to Championship for the first time in their more recent history. Kellen has been instrumental in building the team up, from the days of using Vex’s Build Blitz robot back in 2014 to the present, where only a few COTS assembly are used (Versaplanetary gearboxes for the shooter and climber). Kellen has established this culture of “doing it the OTTO way” which maximizes performance and creativity.
Kellen brought me to Team OTTO in 2019 and got me hooked on the team culture. From there through his mentorship we were able to weather the pandemic years and bounce back this year. While we didn’t make championship, our program has doubled in size from prior to the pandemic years, and this year’s robot boasts custom parts and assemblies designed and machined by our mostly rookie students; such a feat would not be possible without the facilitation that Kellen provides the students and mentors. I could go on, but really this program wouldn’t be where it is without his continued support, mentality, and that famous line of his - “What’s next?”.
I’m looking forward to where we can take this program in the future.
It was awesome to be able to be part of that moment to announce it; getting to work over the past couple of years with creating content, volunteering, and now mentoring on 1746 with Kellen in the 2022 season has been a treat. I almost cried while reading the script.
Having him as a friend, he consistently challenges me to raise the bar as a competitor and as an advocate for the students, mentors, volunteers, and everyone part of the FIRST experience. Especially seeing the growth of the 1746 students in this past season, this was Kellen’s time to shine.
Kellen has been one of the most helpful and kind people in the GA FRC community for a long time, and has become a close friend of mine. On and off the field Kellen is always a great person to look up to and sets a great example for the students he mentors. So glad Kellen was finally awarded the Woodie Flowers Finalist Award!
Thanks for the kind words everyone! The last couple of days have been a bit overwhelming.
Ever since joining FIRST as a 16 year old kid on rookie team back in Illinois in 2005 I’ve had a endless amount of amazing examples to look up to. The original members and mentors on 1625, including my amazing parents, set an early standard for my time in FIRST. Not only learning how to be competitive in FRC but more importantly to make good choices with the information on hand at any given time and to be a good person throughout the entire process.
My year with 525 in 2012 was also a significant forming moment for me as a mentor. Getting to work with the great group of mentors they had there helped me to appreciate the amount of effort and coordination it takes to run a team effectively. Being a piece of the puzzle on that team was a great way to learn how to mentor for a fresh college graduate and I fondly remember my time in Cedar Falls.
It’s crazy to think that I’ve been with 1746 for 10 years now. I remember messaging @rfolea on CD and asking him if he knew of any teams in Forsyth County that could use some help. Rick was another great mentor to work alongside as I learned the ropes on leading a team and forming a fresh group of amazing students. The effort and enthusiasm these students threw into learning made it too easy of a choice to keep throwing all of the effort I could into the team to see it keep building and developing as we built up our resources and design knowledge over the years. We have always had an amazing group of students and it has been incredibly gratifying to see the people they develop into. My favorite contribution to the team has been any effort to create an environment in which students and mentors want to come and participate and share their passion, creativity, knowledge, and enthusiasm. We’ve been incredibly fortunate to have so many talented parents and mentors throw effort into this program that it makes it too easy for me to decide to keep coming back. The PCH community of teams, mentors, and volunteers is a joy to work with and makes it all too much fun as well. It is good to have so many friends to share laughs, struggles, ideas, and experiences with.
There are countless community members and mentors that I have to thank for setting good examples as well. So many friends have been made along the way and it is too much fun to keep up with them as they work with their teams from around the world or pour their passion into other projects they have found. This FIRST community really is something special and it has been one of the greatest parts of my life.
