Operation Inspiration 2007: Who wants to read all the WFA entries?

Competition Thanks and/or Congrats
1

I hear that not enough teams are working hard enough at the I and R in FIRST. If you can build a robot for this game, but can’t find the time to submit an entry for WFA, shame on you. You can still change the tide, recognize the person who inspires your team… NOW … submit a WFA entry at www.firstawards.org. Let’s crush the number of entries from last year.

Don’t worry about winning, just do it. The entries make great UFH submissions AND superior gifts.

Namaste :slight_smile:

[EDIT]: At the wonderful suggestion of Chris, we’ll turn this thread into Operation Inspiration 2007 with a new twist. Post any and all 2007 entries. Recognize these folks right here. If your team is saving it as a surprise gift or wants to wait until the regional of entry has passed, that’s fine too. We’ll take em now, we’ll take em later, just be sure to share when you can :slight_smile: [/EDIT]

2

Any team that enters a WFA essay is already giving an award to their chosen mentor. It is a simple way to give some respect and say thank you to a deserving candidate. Also, keep in mind that any adult mentor is eligible for this award, not just teachers and engineers.

Thanks, Rich, for bringing this up.

Now is the time, students to get this done. Do not depend on your mentors to lead this… it is your thing to do.

Andy B.

3

I’m pretty sure this has been asked before, but for UFH it is said we’re limited to 250 words. Since most Woodie Flowers award entries are way more than this, is it ok to submit the same entry for both?

Also, we’re not supposed to submit someone who has won a Woodie Flowers Award before, does that mean only the Woodie Flowers Award or both that and the Woodie Flowers Finalist Award winners too?

4

The intent is that no mentor should win the Woodie Flowers Finalist Award more than once. This is very different than the Chairman’s Award. Only mentors who have not been recognized as WFFA winners in the past are eligible for the WFFA.

Only WFFA winners are eligible for the Championship WFA. Any past WFFA winner is eligible, ONLY if there is a new essay written for that candidate this year. Past WFFA winners won’t be considered for the Championship WFA if the students on their team do not write a new 600 word essay.

Also, teams with multiple WFFA winners must select only one of these past recipients as their candidate for the Championship WFA. The judges defer to the wisdom of the students to select their best candidate.

Write on…

Andy B.

5

Thanks for that tid-bit. I think it may of got lost in confusion or maybe I’m just crazy with all the chaos involved with shipping. But what I meant was an individual who has won WFA can not win UFH, but can an individual who has won WFFA win UFH?

6

I’m of the opinion that being honored as a Woodie Flowers Finalist counts as being “sung”. The UFH recognition seems intended for folks who don’t have other biggish awards.

7

The Woodie Flowers recognition is as simple and as complex to me as a key.

It unlocks the cage that houses the rolling tool cart and many of the team’s robots - therefore history
It unlocks the future for the student’s educational interests in science, technology, robotics
It starts the car that can travel to a home, a hospital, a funeral, or another team - when a team member needs help or support
It is a key that opens doors we haven’t thought of yet
It opens the way to a student’s self-discovery and confidence
It opens the opportunities for students of many diverse backgrounds and cultures

to grow, to learn, to contribute, to participate

It is a key that belongs to a FIRST mentor. All of the teams have mentors with one such key - As Andy says, Write on…

8

Have you done your duty? Do you think it’s important? Is it actually possible for the students to change the lives of the mentors? Just ask these people:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/wfa.php?action=honoreelist

9

I’m happy to announce that our students took your challenge:

The whirl of a band saw can be heard as you walk down the sidewalk of Baylor Circle in the afternoon. If you follow the sound you will almost surely find FRC team 1902 in a garage, hard at work on their robot. The garage they are building in happens to be connected to one of their mentors houses. Dan Richardson is the lead mechanical mentor of team 1902 and during build season he hosts 20 students in his garage every day, inspiring them to become the leaders of tomorrow. From teaching students how to work the drill press to making sure all the right parts are in, Dan is there making sure everything is running and that the students get the most out of the FIRST program.
When you’re working on something as complex as a FIRST robot you need to have someone who knows what they’re doing. For team 1902 that person is usually Dan. But he doesn’t keep his knowledge to himself. Instead he teaches the students around him how to do all the tasks that are necessary. Anything from mounting an arm to how to drill correctly, Dan is there to make sure everyone around him knows what they are doing.
This year, after the team had decided on the basics of how we wanted the robot to be designed, we needed someone to physically engineer the robot in Inventor. Dan was the only person who knew how, so the incredibly hard job of exact design fell to him. He met the challenge in stride and spent many a sleepless night on it, but he got it done. After he had unveiled the design to the team and got their approval he went about getting the necessary parts to be machined. But while we were waiting for the parts to return he set up some of the students to learn how to go through the process of designing in 3-D. Dan inspired the students to learn the program so that in the future the students could have a little more ownership and knowledge of how a robot was designed with every detail in mind.
Being a college student in an engineering major at UCF Dan doesn’t have a overabundance of free time. But he somehow manages to build his time around robotics. Whether it’s giving up a little bit of study time or not going to dinner with his girlfriend he is always there when the team needs him.He has inspired many students on the team, myself included, to find better ways to manage time in life.
But Dan doesn’t stop with just team 1902. This year Dan set up a collaboration with team 1369 in Tampa. He strongly believes that teamwork is something to be truly valued, not just for FIRST, but for life. This attitude was passed on to the students of both teams as we worked in tandem to get both of our robots finished and perfect. Dan is also going to be volunteering at the UCF regional as the game announcer.
The goal of FIRST is to inspire young minds and to reveal to them the exiting world of science and technology. Dan Richardson realizes this goal and strives towards it every time he walks out into his garage. He believes in this goal so much that he is willing to give up his time, energy, and his garage so that 20 students can realize that same goal.

We love you Dan!!!

10

oink oink BOOM!
who else?

11

Each year we throw an end of the year party and at that party we read our WFA submission out to the rest of the team. We build our own woodie flowers award and give it to the mentor we nominated. Its really cute and that way they’re recognized no matter what. A mentor doesn’t have to win the WFA at a competition to know that they’ve inspired the team.

12

is this your official Operation Inspiration 2007 thread?

13

haha … didn’t know we needed an official one, but feel free to post em if you got em :slight_smile: … usually I wait until the first set of regionals and then people post them as the events pass, but, by all means fire away if your team wants to share now.

14

Here is Team 1345, The Platinum Dragons’ submission:

Arefin Bari embodies all that FIRST strives to be. He has been indoctrinated by the FIRST community and lives and breathes its principles.

Arefin was an active member of Team 108 during high school. Even though he was on another team, I heard his name everywhere I went. He was seemingly involved in every aspect of FIRST. Upon graduation he did not leave FIRST behind. Arefin had a vision that South Florida should be a thriving FIRST community. He volunteers at every event he can get to, whether he is organizing, announcing or competing, he is always involved.

“Arefin Bari has been a great help and supporter of FIRST programs in Broward County. The past 4 years, Arefin has mentored FLL teams and has been instrumental in providing volunteers for the South Florida FLL tournament. In addition, he has developed a dependable communication structure for regional FIRST teams which has helped local teams maintain enough interest to host 2 successful off-season FRC tournaments. Arefin embodies the spirit of FIRST in the passion he portrays in communicating with teams and in volunteering at local events.” (John Burke, Broward County Magnet Coordinator)

After graduation, Arefin began college at FAU and an internship at Pratt and Whitney. He did not, however, give up on his passion for FIRST. Arefin wanted to get involved with a local team and saw the potential and problems of Team 1345 – The Platinum Dragons. As a team with limited mentor support and resources, we gladly took him up on his offer to be a mentor. Although initially I was very skeptical on what effect a college freshman could have on our team, over the past two years I have been converted to a true Arefin believer. He has advanced our team in almost every way possible. He has motivated the Platinum Dragons to tackle more advanced designs and has fostered a level of unity and teamwork this team has not seen before. He is the fuel for this team and his commitment is contagious. Arefin seemingly lives at Stranahan High. He is here during school, afterschool and weekends. If he has a break between college classes, he will stop by to discuss strategy or to show me the latest threads on Chief Delphi. The principal, security staff and office staff all know him by name, and Team Members do not hesitate to consult him on academic as well as personal problems. In two short years he has become an indispensable part of our team, woven into the fabric of the Platinum Dragons.

Arefin is also the ultimate FIRST team resource, from materials to personnel to marketing, he is the man. Last year we needed extra wheels. Arefin used his contacts to get wheels shipped from another team. This year we were desperate for programming help, Arefin contacted Team 710 (which lost funding to participate this year) and invited them to join Team 1345. From that we got two programmers that have been an asset in this year’s game. He is like Don King when it comes to promotion. Arefin makes sure that everyone in the FIRST community knows about the Platinum Dragons and what Team 1345 is up to.

Arefin is a product of FIRST, an ambassador for FIRST, and a role model for the FIRST community to emulate. If we could bottle the passion for FIRST that runs through his veins and put it in next year’s Kit of Parts, the FIRST community would be catapulted to heights not yet seen. I can think of no one more deserving of the Woodie Flowers Award than Arefin Bari.

15

Here’s 1065’s entry to be submitted at the Florida Regional:

Students on Team 1065 have a sense of belonging to a family. A family comprised of other students and mentors closely knit and held together by one individual; Roger Johnston. Mr. Johnston has been taking on the challenges of FIRST for a decade and he shows no signs of slowing down or stopping his FIRST career. The energy and passion that comes out of this individual is simply outstanding.

Prior to creating our team, Mr. Johnston was a co-founder along with Dan Welsh and Phu Nyguen, (engineers for Disney’s Ride and Show Department), together they established the initial team for what would later become The Disney-Alliance. While balancing a family, and a full time career as a teacher in the field of Mathematics and Pre-Engineering at Osceola High School (one of two schools involved with our team), he still found the time to dedicate a large part of his day to our team for the past five years.

Over the years Mr. Johnston has influenced not only team members but members of his own family to pursue degrees in engineering. Because of Mr. Johnston’s teachings, over fifty-percent of our current student build-up is currently planning to enroll in engineering at the college level.

The majority of students call him an “all-around” mentor. He is capable of assisting members in many areas of building the robot, from mechanical and electrical to pneumatics and programming and sometimes even in the spirit department. Whenever a question arises, Mr. Johnston is clearly the one that students rely on.

No matter what the student’s work ethic is he always tries to motivate them to do their best. For example, until recently our team spirit captain has been frightened to even go near a power tool, but because of Mr. Johnston’s efforts she has recently used a power saw, a hand drill, and a drill press.

Mr. Johnston is always spreading the word of FIRST to his students in hopes of gaining members. Whether they are in his geometry classes, or his Engineering Design and Development classes, he gives them all an equal opportunity to become involved in the robotics program.

A first year student on the team has been quoted as saying, “Mr. Johnston is a very smart individual, and he has been a tremendous support for our team. Without him we wouldn’t be where we are”, only after only attending a few meetings.

Mr. Johnston has created an opportunity that not many other teams will have the chance to experience. When we attend local FIRST events there is a feeling of being around old friends, this is because the majority of the teams attending have been started by someone who was once involved with creating or being apart of The Disney-Alliance.

In the unlikely event that the location where we hold our meetings is unavailable for us to meet, Mr. Johnston does not hesitate to offer up his classroom or in some occasions his own home. Mr. Johnston is a very dedicated individual who is willing to do whatever it takes to get the work done. He also keeps an extremely positive attitude about the rigorous challenge FIRST presents to the teams. Once a student asked him “We have only a week left and it doesn’t look like we’re going to complete the robot. What are we going to do?” he quickly responded with “We will finish, no matter what”

Mr. Johnston is the most inspiring individual involved on our team, without him our team would not be what it is today and we are truly grateful for his efforts.

16

Now that you’ve all got some free time, let’s post those entries!

17

Cyber Blue’s Motto is to leave the team better than you found it, and Steve Wherry has completed that task with Gracious Professionalism. For the past 8 seasons, Steve has been mostly the “budget man”, but on closer look, he has been so much more than that.

Steve has created a high level of student involvement in Cyber Blue. Through his math classes, he has recruited several students to become part of the program. Two of those students, Jason Kixmiller and Collin Fultz, went on to become Purdue FIRST scholarship winners, with Collin also becoming one of the first high school interns with our sponsor. Steve also recruited new members to create the team’s Public Relations sub-team; that team is now an integral part of what Cyber Blue accomplishes each season. Steve was also responsible for the formation of the sub-teams that make up Cyber Blue. Defined sub-teams allow several students the opportunity to develop as leaders.

Steve was also responsible for creating the Cyber Blue interview process. All students are required to submit an application and be interviewed for positions on the team. At the end of the season, he also organizes mentor input on students so that students can receive feedback during their interview for the next year’s team. This interview process was a key part of our selection as the Entrepreneurship Award winner at the 2006 Championship. The interview process has helped several team members become more confident public speakers; alumnus David Kelly said, “Before Cyber Blue, I hated public speaking, but after four years of interviews and design reviews, I have become a better speaker and feel more confident.”

Steve’s major role on Cyber Blue is managing the team budget. He keeps track of student accounts, pays the bills, and organizes the sponsor lists. He makes sure there is team money left for a few small senior scholarships each year and manages the finances for the Indiana Robotics Invitational.

Steve makes the team travel arrangements for air, bus and hotel accommodations. At times, he plans his vacations to our planned Regional destinations to check out hotels for safety and security of the team members. He keeps track of release forms and coordinates with other teachers when we students will be out of the building on travel. He is always willing to help a student with homework assignments if needed while we are away at a competition.

Steve has also been instrumental in the growth of the Cyber Blue Parent Crew. He coordinates with the parent leaders and helps organize the parent crew meetings during the year, and other teams ask our team for help and guidance to create their own unmistakable parent crews.

Many on the team call him “Momma Steve”, mainly from an incident in Florida in 2006. Several students ended up with the flu, and Steve stayed back at the hotel with them to help them get better. By Saturday, the students were all better, but then he had what they had been passing around!

Steve has written several scholarship letters for students and is always there to talk and listen if there are problems.

Although Steve’s job is mainly completed behind the computer, he is a key contributor to the ongoing success of Cyber Blue. Through his actions, the members of Cyber Blue have gained a respect for all of the support that is needed ‘behind the scenes’ to make the program work.

For all he does, Cyber Blue would like for Steve Wherry to be awarded the Woodie Flowers Award.

In Atlanta, a student read the entry to Steve infront of the team and gave him a framed copy of the submission :slight_smile:

WE LOVE YOU STEVE!!!

18

Here’s what 226 wrote for ours. Jason won the WFA at the West Michigan Regional this year. Thanks for everything!

Jason Joye, an enigma in size 13 shoes. Best said by Warren Block, faculty advisor from Troy Athens High School, “He has the unique ability to instruct, inspire, and discipline, all with a smile on his face.” His commitment to our team is unmistakable. Mr. Joye interacts with our members on a year-round basis. Even with a full work schedule, he not only commits to the build season, but also attends summer meetings, off-season events, and volunteering activities. He helped plan and setup our FIRST Lego League Scrimmage and even stepped in as a judge when needed. Without him we would not have been able to compete at the Kettering Kickoff, an event we use to introduce our rookies to a FIRST style competition. He graciously volunteered to bring our robot and while there, assisted us in showing the rookies the principles of FIRST. Promoting student involvement, he tries to touch base with all subgroups of our team and works with as many members as he can. These are the kind of things that make him one of the most visible engineers, especially to our rookies. With unprecedented commitment and availability, one student was not afraid to call him at 2:00 in the morning, knowing she would get an immediate and caring response. “He wasn’t mad or grumpy at all. He answered my question and then talked for 15 minutes more, even though I had called so late at night. He’s always been there for us.” Approachable and young in age, Mr. Joye relates effectively with the students. He allows us to express the wildest ideas or concepts, and then decides what to say, or not say, to allow us to work through the problem-solving process. French author Antoine de Saint Exupery’s quote, “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea” clearly shows Mr. Joye’s mentoring style. His compassion and humor can diffuse the stress of the most anxious student. “After working long hours on the robot, and all of us are so tired, but Jason is still upbeat and cracking jokes. He always sees the glass as half full.” Mr. Joye is a positive and supportive figure within our team. He sets an example by displaying professional and organizational skills in all his does. Leading without being over-powering, the students feel his passion for the project and connect with him on an intellectual level. Positive comments are his forte. Helpful, while allowing the students to learn, we have heard him say on many occasions, “If you break it, you break it. You learn from it. You get another piece, and you do it again.” He always seems to be the one we contact first. If we have a problem or question he is unable to address, he promptly finds someone who can. Not only accommodating with his time, he goes out of his way to help strengthen the communication links within our team. The sign of a good communicator is a good listener, and although he has aided our team is multiple ways, most of all, Jason Joye listens. For these reasons and many more, we, Team 226, the TEC CReW Hammerheads, nominate Jason Joye for the Woodie Flowers Award.

19

Team 1504- Jamie R3P0 Robinson

All FIRST teams face adversity, especially those in their rookie year of competition. Through strong support, the team will continue to exist and secure itself as an ongoing beacon for the high school students. On Team 1504, that support we have is named Jamie Robinson. Mr. Robinson, affectionately called “Repo” by team members, has supported the team when nobody else would, and along with his support he’s made the team’s dreams of success into a reality that has helped students on and off the field over the years.
Team 1504, The Desperate Penguins, has been in a few difficult places, and Repo has come through every single time when we really needed it. Over the past two years being involved with our team, Repo has helped out the team by providing his own home as a place to finish constructing the robot when there was no other place available for us. Furthermore, he has aided the team by providing solid teaching practices that help students make the robot they wanted to create. He respects the fact that even though he could force the students to construct a robot with higher functionality, he instead lets the students work toward discovering engineering principles and obtaining self confidence. He has showed his devotion and provided his time. His time includes hours upon hours of CAD drawings up on the computer, and even more hours inspiring students for the time that he is there.
His involvement has aided The Desperate Penguins, even when that required some personal sacrifices on his part. Those sacrifices have not been easy for Repo over the years, but he has found ways to do it and has learned benefits from it too. He has taken some students under his wing and nurtures these students among the years. One such student, Nick Kappler, looks up to Repo as a second father, learning life lessons from him and improving himself along the way. Repo’s tutelage prepared Nick for the leadership role of being a driver last year for our robot, and the tradition may well continue for the both of them. Nick is now a big team leader who teaches the new underclassmen that don’t know the abundance of FIRST competition. Nick’s leadership also helps out the underclassmen on how to become better leaders and better people overall in their lives. Repo’s actions have created a domino effect that creates a recipe for success on this team.
Repo’s tireless efforts have turned the team from a struggling team (formerly called BIG Spartan Robotics), into the team that, contrary to its new name, the Desperate Penguins, is not desperate at all. Last year, Repo volunteered to take the tools for the robot and large amounts of other necessary supplies so that the team could actually compete with the best of them throughout the FIRST program.
Team 1504 has come a long way since it started its rookie year in 2005, and Repo has been there through it all. From the team’s good times and even through the tough times that our team has had as a whole. He has helped the team establish itself to a point where it will continue even after he leaves (we hope he never does!). After all, the best mentors are the ones that not only teach the good concepts, but who perpetuate that teaching and learning so that the team will continually progress and improve with the future of the team.

20

Team 25’s submission for Paul Kloberg who won at CT. Written by Neil Parikh.

The Woodie Flowers Award honors those individuals who have mastered the art of communication in the fields of engineering and design. Very few people exemplify all of the qualities necessary to succeed at this ambitious goal, and Paul Kloberg, mentor of Team 25, FIRST Senior Mentor, and mentor to numerous others across the Tri-State Area, does so with impeccable ease.

Known throughout much of FIRST as jolly, exuberant, excited, caring, tireless, and so much more, he dedicates countless time to numerous FIRST teams. From having started FRC303 many years ago, he has gone on to start more teams than anyone can count—his influence is far-reaching.

Mr. Kloberg originally got excited about FIRST when he saw the passion, dedication, and spirit in Team 25’s eyes when they won the NJ Regional Event in 2000—and since then, his goal has been to bring that same passion, dedication, spirit, and knowledge to everyone. His goals are the same as those of FIRST, and he lives by and spreads the same ideologies— that “Leadership is based on inspiration, not domination; on cooperation, not intimidation,” as William Arthur Wood once said. Neither domineering nor lax, Mr. Kloberg uses the perfect combinations of leadership abilities to keep kids on task, while still having them learn and teach others.

As the Senior Mentor for the New Jersey Region, he serves tirelessly to ensure that every team gets all the help it needs. Oftentimes, he spends his Saturdays visiting and checking in on four or five teams. Wayne Cokeley, coach of Team 25, boasts, “Paul Kloberg was doing the job of Senior Mentor of NJ before FIRST ever created the position”—alluding to Mr. Kloberg’s sincere and everlasting dedication.

But more than his ability to inspire students, he also has a keen sense of how FIRST teams, school boards, and corporate sponsors function and is able to synthesize them into a cohesive whole for the benefit of all parties involved. One example lies in how he worked with Team 1923 from West Windsor-Plainsboro, NJ and their Board of Education to allow the team to compete using school funds. Originally stubborn, the school took a very laissez-faire attitude towards the team until Mr. Kloberg came along and convinced the school that the team was a worthwhile investment.

Incredibly devoted, he makes it a job to be there and to be someone everyone can count on. Randy Schaeffer, Regional Director of NJ/NY FIRST stated that he has the “can-do attitude that is changing the direction of FIRST,” when Mr. Kloberg won Volunteer of the Year Award in 2003. He always goes above and beyond what is asked of him and extends his help graciously. Every year, he makes the arrangements for the NASA field for Brunswick Eruption, Team 25’s off-season event. This past year, he also made sure that the first Monty Madness ran successfully by transporting the FIRST playing field from the Pennsylvania Robotics Challenge down to Montgomery High School in time for the competition. Heavily involved with all aspects of FIRST, he helps run FVC, FLL and FRC Tournaments across the state and has mentored (and/or helped start) teams 25, 303, 1089, 1923, 1403, and so many other teams that only he can remember all of them.

Each year at Brunswick Eruption, Team 25 awards a ‘Big Kahuna’ trophy to a mentor that has made a difference for the team; it represents our own version of the “Woodie Flowers Award”. Mr. Paul Kloberg was the very first recipient of the honor and has since only become more active and dedicated to the cause of FIRST. Mr. Kloberg’s infectious enthusiasm and unmatchable dedication make him a role model for all FIRST mentors.