A letter to the team and supporters from the 2011 Mentors:
WoW! What a Tournament! I’m still catching my breath on the team’s amazing performance. Just Outstanding! By far our best ever! I had so many people, teams, judges and parents coming up to me stating how impressed they were with our team and robot. We were in the elite class and had other team’s coming to us instead of the other way around. We also helped other teams in need by providing our vise, glue, misc. hardware, 6″ pneumatic cylinder, drill, advice, etc., so they could compete too…great examples of “Gracious Professionalism”.
All of the time and effort our students and mentors put into this season really paid off, as well as, the pre-season that helped us hit the ground running. Special Thanks to the mentors for their relentless energy in making this team the best it could be by teaching the principles of FIRST to the students. It’s very rewarding to look back at the first day of this year’s challenge and seeing how ideas turned into reality. Throughout the season, we preached about keeping the design simple, simple, simple! So as a result, (many of you missed this after the Tournament Saturday Afternoon, Richard and I almost did!!! ), we were selected by the event Judges to receive the prestigious “Industrial Design Award”, which is sponsored by General Motors. This award “celebrates form and function in an efficiently designed machine that effectively achieves the game challenge”. This is a huge accomplishment and proves that following the “keep it simple” mantra is the correct path to take!! This is our first award and now need to find a place for it at the school – what a great problem to have!
Special thanks to our Senior student leaders that have been contributing to the team for the last four years. Your guidence and “lead by example” attitude is what this team and program are all about. We look forward to seeing you move forward in your careers and leading others in the future.
To the school Staff, Nick, Paula and Corey: Thanks for the continued support on this great program!
Mr. Secora and Mr. Oakes