Interesting discussion. Especially after reading the previous link about chairman’s award.
Chairman’s:
The most prestigious award at FIRST, it honors the team that best represents a model for other teams to emulate and best embodies the purpose and goals of FIRST
Engineering Inspiration:
Celebrates outstanding success in advancing respect and appreciation for engineering within a team’s school and community.
My feeling is that working as a community inspiring program (EI) is the path towards earning a chairman’s. It is why there is the common thought of the EI being a runner up to the CA. In many ways that thought is true, since the process of the earning the EI is a natural progression of a program to moving on to earn the CA. If you are not able to change your school and community recognition of STEM then the CA is unattainable. Taking your team to that next level of outreach and working to start FIRST related programs is where you earn the distinction need for chairman’s (CA).
With all the definitions regarding the terms used in the Chairman’s Award submission, about team starting, mentoring, etc. It seems even more so in black and white that IS the message FIRST wants teams to hear.
The spreading of FIRST programs is the biggest difference between the two. Whether it is in your own community or abroad. Continual outreach to grow FIRST programs as a whole no matter where logistically is becoming seemingly essential to earning the chainman’s.
I think that in certain states, like ours, there is not much ability to grow much more. There is a finite amount of schools in the area, and the amount that do not have some type of robotics program is shrinking exponentially.
On our island there is not very many school that isn’t involved in a FIRST program, if any now… This is due to all of us working hard to make it that way. The only schools that do not have a FRC program are mostly due to the existing team disbanding. Loss of a key mentor or sponsor is the biggest contributor to defunct teams on our island.
The only option is to reach beyond our borders. This is not an easy task for almost all the local teams. The ability to raise funds dwindles as more programs blossom. The lack of businesses here and the extreme remoteness to any corporation sure makes it difficult for us at times.
But to me this is what the students can and will face in real life. Such a challenge is a great learning opportunity that we love to embrace. To succeed over these type of obstacles makes it worth it… award or not.
This is what drives the broader outreach outside the country we are seeing.
Just my two cents… if that.
Aloha!