by Laura Richardson, guest blogger, Outreach & Media Mentor The 2021 season is well on its way, having finished week 3 of Build. We have 1 ½ robots, and we are well on our way to competition season. Luckily, we have experienced build team members so we are handling the COVID-build world fine. The thing is that we pride ourselves on being #MorethanRobots. The brand side of the team is well represented and set for the future. The robot side is progressing nicely, and will work out by competition. The issue is the outreach side. Why? Because we have always put our emphasis on quality instead of quantity. CSP has long focused on making a real difference in our team members lives and in that of those we support. Other teams will focus on drastic numbers – thousands or millions of people “reached.” We would rather make a real difference in 100 people’s lives than just make 1000 aware of our existence or that of FIRST. It is because eof that our COVID world has drastically affected our programs. Match that with the change made in 2019 to only count three years of impact for Chairman and the loss of half of the 2020 season with a wide-range shut down for a full year, and we have less impact with our existing programs. Luckily, we realized early on in the summer that the impact to mental health and to the social justice programs were opportunities that needed addressing. Unfortunately, they don’t fit into the “robotics int eh classroom” structure we follow, but it identified new and exciting programs that we are addressing. But is that going to be different and impactful enough to provide “proof” for the 2021 Chairman season? We just aren’t sure. In fact, we talked just yesterday about the possibility of taking a year off from Chairman because our new programs have few results so far, and we have lower results with the last two years on our existing programs because they require face-to-face programs. Heck, the local FLL/FTC programs were cut in half or more this year due to the COVID shut downs. Although we are much more involved in local teams than previous, there are fewer teams with which to connect. And, worst of all, #TechItOut was cancelled the day before it happened and will not happen this year because of the changes – and since half of our rookies were introduced to FRC and to CSP with Tech It Out, this is a huge loss for us. We know our programs are good and are strong and are impactful. That’s the point of “quality.” We know we will continue past COVID because they are set up to be sustainable, and we will continue to expand. But, do we want to put in the effort to apply this year? Who knows? We don’t believe in doing anything unless it’s done with high quality. Stay tuned to see if we decide to apply. Maybe we will; maybe we won’t.
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AuthorThe CSP Blog is written by members of the CSP Media team, with guest blogs by alumni and other guests. Archives
March 2022
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