My Nonprofit Reviews

I got involved with FIRST because I was intrigued by the Founders notion that the education "problem" in the United States was a DEMAND problem as distingquished from a SUPPLY problem. "Kids don't stay in school because they can't get their hands on a good book". They don't stay in school and study because they don't understand why it is so important to their futures -- and so don't WANT to be in school. And rather than look to the government or to schools to generate demand, why not look to partner with BUSINESSES. Businesses have successfully generated demand for their products for generations, and so they are uniquely qualified to help generate demand to learn -- paaticularly to learn about things that businessess understand will impact the quality of life for all people on our planet. Armed with this theory, I convinced my company to sponsor a team in Detroit, Michigan. The school would not let me meet with large groups of students as they were afraid of a riot. So, I went classroom to classrom, convincing kids that they wanted to join the new FIRST team. I promised fun and good PR. The kids flat out told me no one would come see the robot they were supposed to build. They told me they were interested in jobs. So, to motivate them to join the team, we promised two team leaders summer internships. And we promised we would pay for the team of kids who actively participated to go to the finals at Disney. Thirty-six kids came EVERY meeting to design and build the robot, design team T-Shirts, organize fundraisers and document their experience. These same kids on their own got dressed up and made formal presentations to the comapany president. The team changed the kids -- gave them an insight into what they could do with themselves if they worked hard, stayed in school and took some math and science classes. It changed the employees who developed a new appreciation for themselves (they were heroes to the kids) and for one another. And this transformation took place in about eight weeks as the team of adults and students came together to solve a problem without enough resources, and without enough time. And they produced a great, attractive robot and won Rookie of the Year! A demand to learn was born, as was a new respect for scientists, engineers and mathematicians.

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