Chairman's Award 

Updates

 December 9, 2021

Dates

 Submission Opens: Thursday, November 4, 2021, at 12pm ET

 Submission Closes: Thursday, February 17, 2022, at 3pm ET

Description
The Chairman’s Award is the most prestigious award at FIRST, it honors the team that best represents
a model for other teams to emulate and best embodies the mission of FIRST. It was created to keep
the central focus of FIRST  Robotics Competition on the ultimate goal of transforming the culture in
ways that will inspire greater levels of respect and honor for science and technology, as well as
encouraging more of today’s youth to become science and technology leaders. 

Overview
The concept of the Chairman’s Award enables FIRST  to recognize teams for their exemplary efforts in
spreading the FIRST  message. Teams must submit for this award by the deadline to be eligible for the
award. After submitting, teams will receive an email to confirm the submission has been accepted and
it will also list the events the team is eligible to be judged at. The teams who have earned the Regional
and District Championship Chairman’s Award can travel to the FIRST  Championship to be considered
for the Chairman’s Award.

Chairman's Award Eligibility 
Teams are eligible for the Chairman’s Award at each Regional or District event at which they compete.
District Teams are not eligible to win the Chairman’s Award at Regional events or inter-district events.
Teams will be restricted to earning this award once at each level of competition. In other words, once
a team has earned the Chairman’s Award at a Regional or District event, they may not earn it again
that season at a later Regional or District Event.

FIRST  will present a Chairman’s Award to 1 winning team at each Regional and District event.
Chairman’s Award recipients from District events will go forward to be considered for the Chairman’s
Award at the District Championship. Chairman’s Award recipients from Regionals and the District
Championships will go forward to be considered for the Chairman’s Award at
the FIRST  Championship.

* Note: All teams that received a NASA Grant must prepare a Chairman’s Award submission online
through the FIRST  Dashboard as part of the grant requirement even though they may be ineligible to
win if they fall into one of the below categories.

Ineligible Teams

 Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame teams are teams that have already earned the Championship Chairman’s
Award and are ineligible to resubmit for consideration for 5 years. 
 First Year Teams
Because the Chairman’s Award recognizes sustained excellence and impact, not just a
1 year team effort, it is not possible for any first-year team (including rookie teams and
 new teams that have been assigned a veteran number) to receive the Chairman’s
Award. First year teams will NOT be considered for the award, are NOT required to
provide a Chairman’s Award video, and will not be interviewed.

Submission Content and Award Emphasis

The Chairman’s Award is presented to the team judged to best exemplify the true meaning
of FIRST  through measurable impact on participants, school, and community at large with emphasis
on promoting science and technology through FIRST  programs.

While the Chairman’s Award is about “more than robots”, teams often leverage their robots to enhance
their impact on the broader community. For this reason, it is expected teams in contention for the
Chairman’s Award will have built a robot appropriate to the game’s challenges for the season. This
does not require the team to have ranked at a certain level during the event but does require teams to
put in more than just the minimal effort necessary to field a drivable robot.

The criterion for the Chairman’s Award has special emphasis on recent accomplishments within the
last 3 years. The judges focus on teams’ activities over a sustained period, as distinguished from just
the robot design and build period.

The FIRST  Robotics Competition is not about machines; it is about the experience of people working
together toward a shared goal. Documenting and preserving your team’s FIRST  experience becomes
an important component of the over-all FIRST  experience.

Submission Format

 Each executive summary is limited to 500 characters, including spaces and punctuation.
 The Essay is limited to 10,000 characters, including spaces and punctuation.
 To help standardize Chairman’s Award judging, FIRST has developed a definition list for terms
commonly used by teams. Teams are responsible for policing their own choice of words. Click
here to see the Chairman's Definitions
o Please note that teams are encouraged to show their Chairman's Documentation
Form (editable word doc here) to the judges during the interview. Note that this is not
a required form (i.e. you can still be eligible without this form) but providing it shows
the Judges that your activities are well planned and documented.

Submission Process

 A student who is designated as the Award Submitter or Lead Mentor 1 or 2 can submit the
Chairman's Submission
o The Lead Mentor 1 or 2 for each team can assign up to two (2) student award
submitters in the FIRST Dashboard. Check out the Instructions to assign an Awards
Submitter if you need assistance. 
 In preparing this submission, bear in mind that students, engineers, teachers, community,
school, sponsors, families, and other supporters are all integral parts of your team experience.
Your submission needs to clearly convey the factors outlined below.
 Submitters must enter information, save it, and return to the site to edit the Chairman’s Award
submission until they are ready to finalize it for final judging. All entries must be finalized and
submitted by the deadline. No entries will be accepted or altered after the deadline.
 The team must submit their Chairman’s Award submission, in English, through
the FIRST  Dashboard and enter the following required information. Team Number, Name, and
Location are automatically included and provided to the judges. 
 Teams will not be able to submit the application without agreeing to the Chairman's Video
Consent & Release of Rights Form in the submission portal.  No entries will be accepted or
altered after this deadline.
 In addition to the online submission, teams must provide judges at the event with a video on a
USB. The team may show this video during their interview but are not required.

Executive Summaries

 Describe the impact of the FIRST program on team participants within the last 3 years.
This can include but is not limited to percentages of those graduating high school,
attending college, in STEM careers, and in FIRST programs as mentors/sponsors.
 Describe your community along with how your team addresses its unique opportunities
and circumstances.
 Describe the team’s methods, with emphasis on the past 3 years, for spreading
the FIRST message in ways that are effective, scalable, sustainable, and creative. How
does your team measure results?
 Please provide specific examples of how your team members act as role models within
the FIRST community with emphasis on the past 3 years.
 Describe your team’s initiatives to Assist, Mentor, and/or Start other FIRST teams with
emphasis on activities within the past 3 years.
 Beyond starting teams, what initiatives have you done to help inspire young people to
be science and technology leaders and innovators? What results have you seen from
your efforts in the past 3 years?
 Describe the partnerships you've created with other organizations (teams, sponsors,
educational institutions, philanthropic entities, etc.) and what you have accomplished
together with emphasis on the past 3 years
 Describe your team's efforts in the past 3 years to promote equity, diversity, and
inclusion within your team, FIRST, and your communities.
 Explain how you ensure your team and the initiatives you have created will continue to
run effectively for the foreseeable future
 Describe your team’s innovative strategies to recruit, retain, and engage your sponsors
within the past 3 years
 Highlight one area in which your team needs to improve and describe the steps actively
being taken to make those improvements.
 Describe your team’s goals to fulfill the mission of FIRST and the progress you have
made towards those goals.
 Briefly describe other matters of interest to the FIRST Judges, including items that may
not fit into the above topics. The judges are interested in learning about aspects of your
team that may be unique or particularly noteworthy.

Essay

 The essay portion of the Chairman’s Award submission provides teams an opportunity
to describe their activities and achievements in narrative form. While Judges
encourage creativity of expression, the essay must clearly deliver information and facts
describing what the team is about. Teams are encouraged to use some of this space to
explain how their team is structured and the number of mentors and students on the
team. The essay should avoid merely duplicating information provided in the executive
summary questions. However, it is appropriate for the essay to further expand on those
responses and provide more in-depth discussion of notable team achievements.
 The most effective essays are characterized by an overview of team activities during
the last 3 years, followed by in-depth discussion of notable activities during the most
 recent 12-18 months. Judges use the essay to get a big picture view of the team and to
learn about achievements that may be unique and noteworthy. 

Chairman's Award Interview Process

Teams who have successfully submitted for the Chairman’s Award will be randomly assigned to an
interview time slot at each eligible event. Once the interview schedule has been posted, Pit Admin will
make an announcement and teams can see the slot to which they are assigned. Some teams may
need to request to change time slots. In order to do so, the team must find another team who is willing
to switch. Both teams will then go to Pit Admin and request the time change. Pit Admin is the only
group who can approve the change. Pit Admin will alert the Judge Advisor or Judge Advisor Assistant.

 Chairman’s Teams must provide a video to the Chairman’s Judges during the interview.

 Chairman’s Award interviews are limited to 12 minutes total; up to 7 minutes for a
presentation by the team (which includes set-up) and the remaining time (5 minutes) is for
question and answers led by the judges. If teams use less time than 7 minutes for their
presentation, judges may use the remaining minutes (out of 12) for Q and A. To ensure
consistency, it is very important that all interviews are no longer than 12 minutes.
o Interviews are conducted in English (with the exception of teams interviewing at
events in China, Chinese Taipei, Israel, Mexico, Quebec, and Turkey).
o Teams needing a translator or sign-language interpreter may include an additional
person to act as that translator/interpreter. The translator/interpreter does not need
to be a team member. For these teams, the duration of the interview is increased by
up to 5 minutes – up to 2 minutes for the presentation and up to 3 minutes for the
Q&A portion.
 No more than 3 student (pre-college) team members are allowed to present information or
answer questions from the Judges. One adult Team Mentor may attend the interview as a
silent observer and later provide feedback to the team, but the mentor is not allowed to
provide any assistance during the interview. We highly encourage this silent observer in order
to provide timely feedback to the team based on observations and noting judges’ questions.
This feedback can be very valuable in helping teams hone their skills. Teams will not be
marked down for having a mentor present. If the mentor provides any assistance during the
interview, the Judges should respectfully remind the mentor of the rule.

Note: These mentors are not allowed to record video or audio or take pictures during the
interview.
Exception: If necessary, the adult mentor may provide translation services for students
needing foreign language or sign language translation. This person does not count as the
adult mentor observer.

Chairman's Award Resources

 

Feedback Forms
This season, all teams will receive feedback. As teams are allowed a mentor in the interview room,
feedback will only be provided on the submitted materials. Judges will answer the questions from
the Chairman's Award Feedback Form and responses will be emailed to the team’s lead mentor 1 and
2 after the event.

Video Requirement
Teams submitting for the Chairman’s Award must provide a video to the judges at the start of their
Chairman’s Award interview. The team that is awarded the Chairman's Award will have their video
shown during the award ceremony. The content of the video should explain what the team has done to
earn the Chairman’s Award. The video content may be in the team’s native language, but if that
language is not English, the team must add English subtitles. The video may be shown to the judges
during the team’s presentation if the team chooses. Even if the video is NOT shown during the
interview, a video must still be provided to the Judges for the team to be eligible for the Chairman’s
Award. In addition, the team must provide the equipment for viewing (i.e. laptop/speakers etc.) the
video if they intend to show it during their interview. Videos must be submitted to the Judges on a USB
Flash Drive with the team number. 

Content Guidelines:

 Please show us what you are doing to earn the Chairman’s Award

 Please do not identify minors by full name, use only first names. 

The Video format should be as follows:

 A 16:9 (“widescreen aspect ratio”)

 Not more than 3 minutes long, no shorter than 1 minute long.
 Include a clean audio track
 Free of copyright restrictions, including music.
 Must be presented to Judges on a USB Flash Drive

Video may consist of:

 Video footage
 Voice over/music over still photographs
 Animated presentation
 PowerPoint converted to VIDEO format

Sound:

 Should be clear of pops and hisses

Copyright:

 If using copyrighted music must have written permission

 If using Creative Commons Music (CCM) online, the music must be used in accordance with
the appropriate license and properly attributed.
 Music may not contain offensive or suggestive language

USB Flash Drive Requirements:

 USB Flash Drive must contain only the Chairman’s Award video file. Test that the file is
playable before submitting the USB Flash Drive.
 Video file must be in the QuickTime (.mov) or windows Media (.wmv) file format compressed
with the H.264/MPEG-4 codec
 USB Flash Drive itself must be labeled with your team number, at a minimum. If you have
room, please add your team name as well. Consider using a label maker or a piece of tape and
permanent marker. Ensure the label is secure and the team number is easily read.
  To reduce the chance of the USB Flash Drive being misplaced, the Drive must be placed in a
clear, sealable plastic bag before it is given to the Judges. Label the bag with team number
and name. 

Note: Unless you show your video as part of your presentation, your video will not be judged as part of
your submission, though an inappropriate video will disqualify you from winning. The Chairman’s Award
is our highest honor and teams who receive the Chairman’s Award represent the highest standards of
FIRST. When the Chairman’s judges have narrowed the selection to two or three teams, these
contenders for the Chairman’s Award at all events will have their Video viewed by the Judge Advisor for
appropriate content and to ensure that the above guidelines have been met. Teams submitting an
inappropriate Video will be disqualified.

Regional/District Championship Chairman’s Award

Teams that have earned the Chairman’s Award at a Regional or District Championship will be
requested via email from FIRST  HQ to submit a YouTube link of their official Chairman’s Award Video
and presentation video for posting along with their online submission. These will be used as resources
for current and future Chairman’s Award submitting teams. We want other teams to be able to see
what it takes to be selected for this most prestigious award.

The Chairman’s Award Championship Award Process

At the FIRST  Championship, a panel of judges will interview teams and review the submissions from
all the Regional and District Championship Chairman’s Award recipients and will select 3 Chairman’s
Finalists and from those, 1 winning Chairman’s Award recipient per Championship. These
Championship Chairman’s Award teams become Hall of Fame Members.

As announced in this blog, teams who are unable to travel to the 2022 FIRST Championship due to
COVID will be allowed to interview remotely. Teams should expect that in 2023 we will be going back
to the ‘you need to be present to win’ standard for Chairman’s Award.

The Allaire Medal - Leadership Defined

The Allaire Medal recognizes leadership exemplified and is awarded to an individual student on the
team selected as the Chairman’s Award team.

Named in honor of Paul A. Allaire, a long-serving FIRST  Chairman of the Board, the Allaire Medal is
given to the student who has demonstrated outstanding leadership on their FIRST  team, within
their school and community and whose personal character best embodies the spirit of FIRST.

The team earning the Chairman’s Award at the Championship will select the Allaire Medal recipient.
The adult and student team members of the Chairman’s Award team determine the recipient. The
recipient must be a high school junior or senior who has been accepted into a 4 year degree program
at a college or university. The Allaire Medalist receives the Allaire medallion and up to $10,000 in total
scholarship support for undergraduate tuition, room/board and fees/books at their intended university
or college. 

Dean's List Award

Updates

 October 13, 2021

Dates
  Submission Opens: Thursday, November 4, 2021, at 12pm ET
 Submission Closes: Thursday, February 10, 2022, at 3pm ET

Description
In an effort to recognize the leadership and dedication of the most outstanding secondary school
students in FIRST®, the Kamen family sponsors awards for selected 10 th or 11th grade* students known
as the FIRST®  Robotics Competition and the FIRST®  Tech Challenge FIRST  Dean’s List Award.

Similar to the very prestigious National Merit Scholarship Award, there are three (3) levels
of FIRST  Dean’s List Award students.

 FIRST  Dean’s List Semi-finalists – comprised of the two (2) students in their 10th or 11th
school year* nominated by each team.
 FIRST  Dean’s List Finalists - The students selected for each Regional and District Region.
Each Regional is allotted 2 Dean's List Award Finalists, and the number of Finalists per District
varies. Please visit the Championship Eligibility Criteria page for the number of Dean's List
Award Finalists allotted to each District. 
 FIRST  Dean’s List Winners -  comprised of the ten (10) FIRST Robotics Competition and ten
(10) FIRST Tech Challenge students selected from the applicable FIRST  Dean’s List Finalists.

The students who earn FIRST  Dean’s List status as either a Semi-finalist, Finalist or Winner, are great
examples of current student leaders who have led their teams and communities to increased
awareness for FIRST  and its mission while achieving personal technical expertise and
accomplishment. It is FIRST’s goal that all Dean’s List Semi-Finalists, Finalists and Winners will
continue on, post award, as great leaders of FIRST’s ever growing student alumni.

Since its introduction in 2010, the FIRST  Dean’s List Award has attracted the attention of prestigious
colleges and universities who desire to have FIRST  Dean’s List students apply for admissions.
As FIRST  believes such interest is beneficial to our students, those students selected as Finalists and
Winners will be asked to provide written consent for the release and use of certain personal
information, including image, to interested colleges/universities for the sole purpose of allowing those
institutions to contact the students if they wish. Colleges/universities have expressed interest in
meeting FIRST  Dean’s List Award Winners and FIRST  hopes that each team will take advantage of the
opportunity to nominate two of their best students as FIRST  Dean’s list Semi-finalists.

*NOTE: For regions of the world that do not use grade levels such as this to identify years of
schooling: This award is intended for students who are two (2) to three (3) years away from
entering college or university. Students that would be attending college or university in the next
academic year are not eligible. Mentors will be asked for the year of graduation during the
nomination process.

Submissions
After careful review of the criteria for the Dean’s List Award, each team is invited to nominate up to
two student members as Semi-finalists who are 10th or 11th grade students. It’s important that teams
nominate only those students they believe are truly deserving of this honor. Students who are in the
10th and 11th grade that mentor the team (and do not actively participate as members of the team)
are not eligible.

A mentor, who is not related to either of the students chosen as the team’s Dean’s List Semi-finalists,
shall complete and submit the application in the Team Registration System to compete for
the FIRST  Dean’s List Finalist designation. Students previously selected as FIRST  Dean’s List Semi-
finalists or Finalists in a prior year are eligible for nomination again this year provided they meet all of
the criteria.
 Please note: By making a submission, the Submitter irrevocably grants FIRST and FIRST
designees the right to use any or all of the submission in any and all media for the purpose of
describing the submission, describing the award, and/or otherwise promoting FIRST and FIRST
programs.

NEW! To be nominated and to receive an interview, students MUST have a signed FIRST  Consent and
Release form. Students with a FIRST  Dashboard account and a signed Consent and Release form in
their profile can be selected in the drop-down list in the nomination portal. If the student does not have
a signed form in their account, or does not have an account, mentors may check off a new checkbox
acknowledging that they have a signed paper copy of the FIRST  Consent and Release form before
submitting. Paper forms may be acquired by reaching out to your local leadership. Please see the
Interview Process section below for information on submitting the paper form.

NEW! For more information about submitting for the Dean's List Award, writing an essay and preparing
for an interview, please view the FIRST  Robotics Competition Dean's List Award Guide. 

Criteria
Criteria for selection of the FIRST  Dean’s List Award shall include, but not be limited to a student’s:

 Demonstrated leadership and commitment to the FIRST  Core Values

 Effectiveness at increasing awareness of FIRST  in the school and community
 Interest in and passion for a long-term commitment to FIRST
 Overall individual contribution to their team
 Technical expertise and passion
 Entrepreneurship and creativity
 Ability to motivate and lead fellow team members

Although a single mentor must submit the nomination, the team as a whole must verify the accuracy
of the submission. FIRST  is relying upon the team for the veracity and accuracy of the submission
data.

Each entry shall include the following identifying information:

 To be awarded the Dean’s List, a student must display academic excellence. Please describe
the student’s academic performance with an indicator the school uses. (Maximum
Characters: 200)
 Name & location of student’s high school
 Year of graduation from secondary school/high school
 NEW: Number of years the student has participated in FIRST  (Maximum characters: 30)
 Number of years the student has participated on the team
 Five essays of no more than 800 characters each attesting to why the student has been
nominated. Prompts for these essays can be found below.

NEW! The essay has been broken down into five prompts with 800 characters each, below. Essays
should be specific about the Semi-finalist’s contributions to FIRST  generally, and to their team
specifically as well as inform judges of specifics on the Semi-finalist’s entrepreneurial, technical,
creativity, and innovation skills. Specific examples are helpful to the judges. Information about the
Semi-finalist outside of FIRST  may also be supportive of the nomination but is secondary to
information about the student’s participation in FIRST. Essays must be submitted in English between
the dates noted above.
 1. Explain how the student embodies the philosophies of Gracious
Professionalism and Coopertition  through the FIRST  Core Values: Discovery, Innovation,
Impact, Inclusion, Teamwork and Fun. Please provide examples.
2. How has the student increased the awareness of FIRST? Describe the student’s interests
and/or plans to continue to engage with FIRST  beyond high school. Please provide examples.
3. Describe the student’s technical expertise, using specific examples in the areas of
programming, electronics, design, fabrication, making, illustrating how these skills have
contributed to the team's success. Please provide examples.

                    ***PLEASE NOTE, the nomination portal lists a similar, but different, prompt for this
question. Answers to either will be accepted. 

1. How does the student's individual contribution to the team benefit the team as a whole in the
areas of fundraising, outreach, entrepreneurship, and creativity? Please provide examples. 
2. Explain the student’s leadership to their fellow team members. How do they motivate others?
What is their leadership style? Please provide examples.

Applications for the FIRST  Robotics Competition Dean’s List are submitted via the FIRST  Dashboard.

A photograph of the FIRST  Dean’s List Semi-finalist is encouraged, but optional, and the essay
submission and such photos may be used in the promotion of the recipient and/or the award, at the
discretion of FIRST. Finalists & winners will be required to sign a FIRST  media release to allow use of
their likeness to sponsors contributing to the FIRST  Dean’s List recognition program and will be
responsible for any taxes associated with federal/state prize requirements.

Interview Process
In 2022, Districts and Regional Events may hold Dean's List Award interviews virtually or in-person. A
District will hold interviews either entirely in-person or entirely remote. To view which Districts and
Regional Events are holding interviews remotely, please view the list of Remote Dean’s List Interview
Events.

 Each Semi-finalist will be interviewed. NEW! The interview is a brief 6-10 minutes and will be
conducted by a minimum of 2 Judges, who will have reviewed the submissions prior to the
interview.
 Interviews are conducted in English (with the exception of teams interviewing in China, 
Israel, Mexico, Quebec, and Turkey). Teams needing a translator or sign-language interpreter
may include an additional person to act as that translator/interpreter. The
translator/interpreter does not need to be a team member or mentor. For these teams, the
duration of the interview is increased by three (3) minutes.
 Only the nominated student is allowed to present information or answer questions from the
Judges. In instances where a mentor is present, the adult team mentor may observe and later
provide feedback to the student, but the mentor is not allowed to provide any assistance
during the interview.
 Recording video, audio or taking pictures (including screenshots) are prohibited during the
interview. 
o In addition to FIRST  prohibiting recording, there may be other legal restrictions
governing recording. 
 Judges will select two (2) students at each Regional event as FIRST Dean’s List Finalists. For
Districts, Semi-finalists will be interviewed prior to their local District Championship and 1 or 2
students will be shortlisted at each event and will be called the FIRST Dean’s List District
Championship Semi-finalists. The District Championship Semi-finalists will be re-interviewed
 at (or prior to, if remote) their local District Championship and the Judges will choose the
Dean’s List Finalists at each District Championship (number of Finalists varies by District).
 At the FIRST  Championship all FIRST  Dean’s List Finalists will be considered for
the FIRST  Dean’s List Award as applicable. No interviews will take place
at FIRST  Championship.  Judges will use the essays provided and any available interview
feedback. Finalists need not be present at the FIRST  Championship in order to be considered.

For in-person interviews:

 Signed paper FIRST Consent & Release forms MUST be brought to the event in which the
student is to be interviewed at and submitted with the Team Roster to Pit Admin. If the
student does not have a signed form at the event (whether shown on the Team Roster as
being signed in Dashboard or a paper form), the student will be ineligible to receive an
interview and continue on for selection as a Dean’s List Award Finalist.
 Each Semi-finalist will be interviewed at one (1) event where their team is competing.
 Eligible students that have been nominated for the Dean’s List Award will be randomly
assigned to a time slot for an interview. Once the interview schedule has been posted, Pit
Admin will make an announcement and students can see which slot they are assigned to.
Some students may request to change their time slot. In order to do so, the student must find
another student that is willing to switch with them. Both students will then come to Pit Admin
who can approve the change and Pit Admin must alert the JA or JAA.

For remote interviews:

 The Lead Mentor 1 & 2 will receive an email from deanslist@firstinspires.org after

nominations close with instructions on how to submit the student’s signed FIRST Consent &
Release form. The signed form MUST be received by the deadline outlined in that email or the
student cannot be interviewed. 
 If the District or Regional Event is conducting remote interviews, the Judge Advisor will email
the nominating mentor at least 2 weeks prior to the event to schedule an interview. The
interview will occur within 7 days of the event’s load-in date. JAs will notify District students
which event their interview will be applied to.  
 If a student cannot attend the scheduled time, the mentor should let the Judge Advisor know
immediately so they can reschedule the student's remote interview.
 One adult mentor must attend the interview. Only the nominated student (pre-college) team
member is allowed to present information or answer questions from the Judges. The one (1)
adult team mentor may observe and later provide feedback to the student, but the mentor is
not allowed to provide any assistance during the interview.
 The interview time will begin after a 1-minute buffer to ensure the student has connected
to the call.

The ten FIRST  Robotics Competition FIRST  Dean’s List Award Winners and ten FIRST  Tech
Challenge FIRST  Dean’s List Award Winners will each receive the following:

 A unique trophy and public recognition at FIRST  Championship*

 A written recommendation from FIRST  leadership to the college(s) or employers of their
choice
 A credit towards the winning student’s team’s next season registration fee. The credit will be
applied to the team from which the student was originally nominated for the award.
 A commemorative plaque for the student's school.
  An invitation for them and a chaperone to attend an expense paid FIRST  Dean’s List Award
Summit at FIRST  headquarters in Manchester, NH*
 The 10 FIRST  Robotics Competition and 10 FIRST  Tech Challenge winners will have the
opportunity to apply for the Woodie Flowers Memorial Grant, where one student out of the 20
winners will be awarded the grant; and
 An opportunity to work with all members of the FIRST  Dean’s list and FIRST  leaders to
advance the Alumni mission of FIRST.

*For the 2021-2022 season, these activities will be reviewed at a later date to determine if they it is
feasible to host these in person events.

Woodie Flowers Award 

Updates

 October 22, 2020

Dates

 Submission Opens: Thursday, November 4, 2021, at 12pm ET

 Submission Closes: Thursday, February 10, 2022, at 3pm ET

Woodie Flowers Finalist Award (WFFA)

The Regional and District Championship Woodie Flowers Awards celebrate effective communication
in the art and science of engineering and design. This award is known as the Woodie Flowers Finalist
Award. Being selected as a WFFA is a requirement to be eligible for the Championship Woodie
Flowers Award.

Spirit of the Award

This award recognizes an individual who has done an outstanding job of motivation through
communication while also challenging the students to be clear and succinct in their communications.
As such, it is very important that this be a student-led effort and a student decision. One student will
act as the nominator. Lead Mentors/Coaches should direct 1 or 2 students to the online entry site and
let the high school students decide whom to nominate. Adults can help edit and should check the
essay and the submission information for accuracy, but this must be a student-led effort. The
author(s) of the 3,000-character (max.) essay must be clearly identified as high school students in the
online submission.

Eligibility
It is suggested that students nominate YPP screened mentors that are on their own team. A mentor
may only receive the WFFA one time regardless of the number of teams the mentor has served.

Nominated mentor must be listed as a Mentor with the team.

Judging Criteria
Two aspects of this award are important: (1) the accomplishments in communication by the mentor
and (2) the student’s ability to communicate clearly and concisely through their nomination.
A specific judging criterion is based upon the team’s description of how the mentor inspired each
member of the team in some or all the following ways:

 Level of student participation; 

 Creativity of effort; 
 Clear explanation of mathematical, scientific, and engineering concepts; 
 Demonstration of enthusiasm for Science and Engineering; 
 Encouragement to work on projects as a team effort; 
 Inspiration to use problem-solving skills; 
 Inspiration to become an effective communicator; and 
 Motivation through communication.

Each FIRST team completes a product development cycle as it designs a concept, develops a

prototype, and builds and debugs a unique machine. This requires teamwork, attention to detail,
scheduling and hard work. The award-winning essay should answer this question; “How did the
candidate inspire your team throughout this process?” If the judges determine the essay best
describes how this individual excels above all others as he or she inspires the team, then that mentor
truly deserves to be recognized with the award that honors Professor Woodie Flowers and his
contribution to engineering, education, and communication.

Entry Requirements
The students select a eligible mentor, enter reference information, and a maximum three thousand
(3,000) character essay (this includes spaces, punctuation and line breaks) written in English. Eligible
Mentors can be selected from a pull-down menu. Teams must upload 1 photo of the nominee,
preferably a headshot of the mentor alone in Picture 1 and may also add up to three (3) additional
pictures, totaling no more than 1.0 MB of memory. This submission should be a team effort and will
stand alone as the team’s entry to award their candidate the deserved recognition.

Entry Process
A student award submitter can enter their candidate through the FIRST  Dashboard. The Lead Mentor 1
or 2 for each team must assign at least one (1) and up to two (2) student award submitters in
the FIRST Dashboard. Check out the Instructions to assign an Awards Submitter if you need
assistance. It is suggested that you begin gathering all required information before  it is time to submit
and type the nomination as a Text Document so that it is easier to edit and check the character limit.
When finished, it can be pasted to the on-line submission.

Student nominators must follow the directions listed on the screen. As the student nominator fills out
the required information.

Student nominators can easily enter information, save it, and return to the site to edit their entry
information until they are ready to submit it for judging. All entries must be submitted between the
dates listed in Submission Dates. No entries will be accepted or altered after this date.

Students will go to the website to enter information in the following fields:

 Team Number (Auto populated)

 Team Name (Auto populated)
 School (if affiliated)(Auto populated)
 Select an Eligible Mentor
o First Name, Last Name (Auto populated)
o (Auto populated)Phonetic spelling of mentor name
o Occupation
o Position on team (Auto populated)
 o Email Address (Auto populated)
 High School Student Nominator’s information: (Student recommending candidate)
o First Name, Last Name (Auto populated)
 Adult Reference (Must Select an Eligible Mentor on the team)
o Occupation
 Adult Reference (Any FIRST affiliation)
o First Name, Last Name
o Phone Number
o E-mail Address
 Upload Pictures (1 required photo of nominee, preferably a headshot, up to (3) three additional
photos, all photos no more than 1.0 MB total)
 Essay (Character max: 3,000) - Once candidates’ information and essays are submitted, they
are sorted and posted on a private, password-protected site where only the Judges can read
the entries.

Please Note: By making a submission the Nominator irrevocably grants to FIRST and FIRST designees

the right to use any or all the submission in any media for describing the submission, describing the
Award, and/or otherwise promoting FIRST and FIRST programs.

Championship Woodie Flowers Award (WFA)

The Woodie Flowers Award celebrates effective communication in the art and science of engineering
and design. Dr. William Murphy founded this prestigious award in 1996 to recognize mentors who
lead, inspire and empower using excellent communication skills. The Woodie Flowers Award (WFA) is
presented to one WFFA winner at the earlier FIRST  Championship and the winner will also be
recognized at the second FIRST Championship each year.

Eligibility
There are two paths to eligibility for this award:

1. The nominee must win the Woodie Flowers Finalist Award during the present season.
2. The nominee must have received the WFFA during a previous year and be re-nominated by the
mentor’s present team this season. The mentor could have received the award while on a
different team. Teams having multiple WFFA recipients may only re-nominate one each year.

All Championship eligible WFFAs will receive a congratulatory email from the WFA group.

Award eligibility Requirements

All WFFA recipients from the present year are automatically considered by the judges. If a team has
both a current year WFFA and a re-nominated WFFA, the team will need to select which nominee the
team wishes to be considered for the Championship WFA in the submission portal during the
submission period. All nominations must be made during the Official on-line WFA/WFFA submission
period. Teams nominating a previous year WFFA winner must follow the relevant steps.

Nomination Entry PROCESS for Previous Year WFFA winners

All nominations must be made during the Official on-line WFA/WFFA submission period. Teams
nominating a previous year WFFA winner must follow the relevant steps listed previously in the Entry
Requirements and Entry Process. Reminder, this is a new “stand alone” submission. The previous
essay is not considered.

Judging Criteria
The judging criteria for the Championship Woodie Flowers Award is the same as the Woodie Flowers
Finalist Award. However, it is considered a more competitive award since a single recipient is chosen
from greater than 200 WFFA winners.