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Please help, my son Tristan, and I...reach Anaheim, California for the Vex Robotics World Competition. Recently, our team from West Virginia, won the first ever State Championship in Fairmount. Our team was given the Award of Excellence, from NASA, and entry to the World Competition, in California at the end of April. Unfortunately, we barely have enough money to send everyone so we are desperately seeking funds to pay for our trip. This would include airfare, hotel costs, and food for the week.
This team is composed of five young, brilliant, and talented young men, and three "average joes" chaperones. We have driven around in the local area and competed in multiple tournaments over the past two years. Competing against teams in Haverford, Pennsylvania, and Baltimore, Maryland, these guys honed their skills and became something more...a legend. At the state competition, we started out in seventh place, then we moved to fifth, then first, and then back down to fifth. During this time, the team of judges came around and looked at our engineering notebook, and interviewed our team. The engineering notebook is 'hand drawn' by one of crew. It is amazing! NASA was blown away. In addition, out team went around and helped some of the other teams that had issues with their robot and software program. Apparently, the judges notcied this as well congratulate our boys on their cooperative behavior during a competition. When we came from behind in the finals matches at the state tournament to take home the award for excellence, we were overwhelmed with emotion. Then it sank in.
Our boys have worked endlessly building and rebuilding this robot to prepare for any competition. They have spent time not only in class but, many of them have spent countless nights at school along with their teacher to prepare. This is the first opportunity for our team to go to the World Competition. This may not seem as big as the Olympics and the Jamaican Bobsled team. This is just a group of small town boys doing what they love to do and excel at an opportunity to see how they fair against the world. Alternately, for some of our students this is the last shot before they graduate.This would include my son...
This competition also helps with their future endeavours. If they can place well in the world competition, it would help provide them with more opportunity to get accepted into a major college. At least maybe get them up out of the small town and see what the world has to offer. Become more than what they are.
Finally, this is a father's plea! If you have a child, you know how it feels to be helpless sometimes. To watch them and hope that they have a better life than what you have. How you would sacrifice pretty much anything to get them where they need to be. This is a crucial opportunity for the team to be seen not only from small-town America but Worldwide. Its also an opportunity to help these five young men get a leg up on their life. They have worked very hard to get where they are. I want to get them the rest of the way and I need your help to do it! You can root for our team as well. If, we get to the competition, I plan to tweet and provide a vodcast of the whole event.
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