What is Dean's Homework?

Every year, Dean Kamen assigns teams “homework” at kickoff. The homework is an assignment for each team to help further the goals of FIRST, spreading the word. Past homework assignments have included reaching out to politicians, and keeping in touch with FIRST alumni. Below are Dean's homework assignment for 2010 and those for 2007-09.

2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007

2010 Dean's Homework:

This year's Dean's Homework is to get more spectators at the competitions and Robotics related events. Students can help by encouraging their non-robotics friends and their families to come support them at the FIRST Robotics events that are held all over the US and Canada. Team 578 accomplished this by advertising for the regional with posters at the high school and through announcements on the school's television news program. We also invited the children in our Engineering Clubs to visit during the regional.

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2009 Dean's Homework:

Assignment: Getting current members, family members and alumni, to participate and become involved more on a drastic scale. This could be done either by coming back to mentor a team or simply by spending more time by doing tasks on their team. Team 578 was able to work on this with the help of the team's Blue Pages, begun by Larry Herb and maintained by newer members, which keep track of the contact info for all past and present members of the team.

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2008 Dean's Homework:

Assignment: Spread the word about FIRST Robotics through social networking sites, such as Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube. The word needs to get out so anyone with a computer can access the information needed to get involved with the program.

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2007 Dean's Homework:

Assignment: Talking to elected officals to help them learn more about FIRST and the programs offered, as well as inviting them to attend various FIRST competitions.

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