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Preparing Your Chairman’s Award: Almost As Fun As Building a

Robot

FIRST Philadelphia Kick-off EventJanuary 5, 2008

John Larock / Carol Perrotto

Agenda

• Introductions• What is the Chairman’s Award?• Why submit?• Organizing your team• Submission process• Submission / Presentation Tips• Examples• Q & A

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What’s all the fuss about the Chairman’s Award?

What is the Chairman’s Award?

• Top award in FIRST• Recognized as role model for other teams and embodies

the goals and purpose of FIRST• Regional award winners qualify to compete at

Championship• Championship winners enter FIRST Hall of Fame

– Qualify for Championship event

– Choose student to receive Allaire Medal

• Scholarship of $10,000

– Work with producer/director to develop video tape of team

– If you’re lucky, you can visit the White House

Chairman’s Award Process

• Complete on-line information– Yearbook Page

• Complete submission on-line– Executive Summary

– Chairman’s Essay Submission

• Select regional event to submit at– Same event you submit Woodie Flowers award

• Presentation to judges at Regional• If qualify, present to judges at Championship

2008 Deadline – Feb 21, 2008, 11:59pm EST

Why Submit An Entry?

• To be able to organize, document, and communicate what your team does

• Allow students a chance to share their experience with FIRST judges

• For recognition of what you already do• To get a nice trophy & banner• To allow students another avenue to demonstrate

their skills and creativity• To satisfy your competitive urges another way

Why Submit An Entry?

• Your team must submit an entry if you have received a NASA Grant

• Rookies should submit if you are vying for Rookie All-Star Award– Rookies not eligible to win Chairman’s Award– Rookies to bring hardcopy for judges at Regional

• FIRST Hall of Fame teams are not eligible to win Regional Chairman’s Award– Encouraged to submit to verify teams are maintaining

their Hall of Fame status

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Organizing Your Team

Know the Criteria

• From Chairman’s Award documentation in FIRST manual• Emphasis on recent accomplishments (2007-08 year) and

those of the past two years.– IMPACT on learning experience of students, school

curriculum, engineers and community– ROLE MODEL – demonstrate why should your team be

considered one– COMMUNICATION – how well has team communicated

excitement and impact?– INNOVATION – team documented innovative way to spread

FIRST message– PARTNERSHIP – strengths of team partnerships– DOCUMENTATION – does content exemplify true meaning of

FIRST?

Selecting Your CA Team

• Two main teams– Documentation / Submission team

– Presentation team

• Strongly suggest that Presentation Team is a subset of your Documentation / Submission team

• General Criteria for Documentation / Submission Team– First-hand knowledge of team history

– First-hand knowledge / experience of team outreach

– Embody the spirit of FIRST

CA Documentation / Submission Team

• Select leader for team• Responsibilities / Tasks

– Proposes where to submit Chairman’s entry to rest of team

– Gathers information for entry– Develops draft of entry– Obtains feedback on entry– Submits entry– Develops judge presentation

CA Presentation Team

• Additional Criteria – Students who “get it” and are committed

– Students who know most / all aspects of team

– Students who are available to put in time necessary

• Select a leader for team

• Responsibilities / Tasks– All responsibilities of Documentation / Submission Team– Develop presentation for judges– Practice presentation– Gather presentation aids– Give presentation

Considerations on Which Regional to Submit Entry to

• What do you consider your “home regional”?– The judges here will know your team best

– The regional has a history of your team’s activity

• Competition– Number of teams attending regional

– Number of teams you estimate will submit

– Competitiveness of teams most likely to submit

• Availability of Presenters• Other reasons?

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Planning your SubmissionPart I – The written part

Know Your FIRST Team

• What is your team mission, vision, goals, accomplishments?

• How do these match up against the award criteria?• How can you best tell your team story to meet criteria?

It is okay to not have strengths in all areas of the

award criteria – your submission should focus

on telling your team’s story

Executive Summary

• Answer the question asked• Stay within the word counts• Focus on time frame requested

– More impact in recent years

– Less impact many years ago

• Provide as many concrete results as possible• Use burger dots to provide more information in the space

alloted

Any questions about Executive Summary?

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MOE Executive Summary 2007

Essay

• Use your creativity!• Adhere to word count

– Write what you need to and then edit down

– Get to the point as effectively as you can

• How can you best tell your team story to meet criteria?– More words to complement info in your Exec Summary

– Emphasize areas you really want judges to focus on

– Emphasize what is unique / special about your team

• Balance results and emotion– Use exact quotes if you can

– Show impact your team has had

Any questions about Essay?

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MOE CA Essay 2007

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Planning your SubmissionPart II – The Presentation Part

Presentation Prep

• Ensure the presentation team gets along with each other• Complement info from Exec Summary and Essay

– Add info you could not get into essay due to space

– Enhance topics you want to emphasize

• Definitely cover topic areas you need judges to hear• Develop a script of your presentation

– Better chance of getting specific information across

– Presenters can then focus on memorizing their section(s)

– Include props (posters, slides, etc.)

• Stay within time limit (including set-up)

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MOE CA Presentation Script 2007

Presentation Prep

• PRACTICE!!!!– Assess the flow– Determine how presentation works with props– Have different people review presentation and comment– Continually upgrade

Any questions about Presentation Prep?

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Chairman’s Process Tips

It’s not only about what is submitted and presented

• Judges and others will be observing Chairman’s Award contenders during the competition– Input from judges and others (event volunteers, other teams)

may be a factor in the judges’ decision

• Your team should “walk the talk”– Team members should act as you describe your team in your

essay and presentation– Your team (especially competition team) should demonstrate

Gracious Professionalism

• Every team member is an ambassador for your team– It’s not just about the students presenting your entry; it’s

about every member of your team– This may include parents of team members

General Tips

• Best people on CA team are those who actively participated in team events & outreach– They have personal experiences they can share

• Look for ways to differentiate your team• Get as much feedback on your Essay and Presentation as

you can from a diverse audience before you submit / present

• Being well organized is extremely important• Check out the layout of your presentation room in advance

(if you can)– Bring ALL of your props (including easels)

• Be on time for your presentation

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Examples of MOE 365 Chairman’s Entry 2007

MOE’s Vision and Mission

• Vision– to be a model FIRST robotics team

• Mission– We inspire & motivate young people to pursue science and

technology careers and become confident, self-reliant, responsible citizens poised to make a real difference in our world using a fun, creative, and unique environment that extends learning beyond the classroom

MOrE- Specific Examples

www.moe365.org - go to “Chairman’s Award” under “Main” menu list

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Questions?Good luck!