Team Core Values Nomination Process
Deadline is Sunday, January 23, 2011

FIRST LEGO League allocates a portion of the team invitations to the World Festival for FLL Core Value Nominated Teams. Each FLL Championship is allowed to nominate one team. The Northern California FIRST LEGO League Core Values Committee will select a single team they feel has demonstrated exceptional FLL Core Values and has been an Ambassador to the program and NEW this year, we will do this selection as part of the Championship.

We are publishing this information early in the season so that teams can keep better notes and reflections on their activities as they go through the FLL season.

 

Teams will be able to self nominate through the process described below.

 

Nominations should be emailed to fllcorevalues@playingatlearning.org. The submission should be either a Word or PDF document.

Required Elements:

1) An essay written by the team members answering questions how they have specifically demonstrated FLL Core Values in team meetings, outside their team meetings and at FLL Tournaments (if they attended). An adult may type the responses but the edits and words should come from the team. The essay should not exceed 500 words, with questions inserted before each response. Hand written essays are acceptable if the hand writing is readable.

2) Ability to be interviewed by a panel of judges at the NorCal FLL Championship in Newark on January 29th –  this would be a pre-arranged interview time during the competition day.  If the team is competing, the time would be selected to not interfere with their judging or competition rounds.

Supporting Elements (if available):

• Listing of  Awards from any level of tournament. Note that it is possible for a team not to attend a tournament and still be nominated.
• FLL Core Values observations (positive or negative behavior) submitted by Tournament Officials.
• Other types of supporting documentation, such as; newspaper clippings, links to online news articles, etc.
• Ways that the team has been an ambassador to the program

 

Other Requirements and Expectations:

• A working robot that can attempt at least some missions of this year’s robot game
• A project presentation following the project definition
• If the team did not participate in a tournament they should include an explanation of the reasons for not participating.
• If nominated by the Nor Cal FLL Committee and if selected by the World Festival FLL Core Values Committee, the team(s) would be able to pay the registration fee (which as $1000) and be able to fund their trip to the FIRST World Festival in St. Louis between April 27-30, 2011. Please add a statement from the coach on the strength of the team’s local community and parents to fund and make the trip – it is expensive and requires taking off for at least 3 weekdays [Wed-Fri] at a minimum.
  

Every team must be available to be interviewed by a Core Values Judge Panel during the FLL championship – and the “Core Values” team will be announced during the Award Ceremony.  The judge panel will write up the submission to be handed off to the World Festival FLL Core Values Selection Committee.

FLL Core Values are defined as:

• We are a team.
• We do the work to find the solutions with guidance from our coaches and mentors.
• We honor the spirit of friendly competition.
• What we discover is more important than what we win.
• We share our experiences with others.
• We display gracious professionalism in everything we do.
• We have fun!

The Essay:

FLL Team #	________________________________________________
FLL Team Name	________________________________________________
Coach Name	________________________________________________
Coach Email	________________________________________________
Coach Phone	________________________________________________

Make sure that answers to the questions below are complete and specific.

 

 

In 500 words or less, please answer the following questions for your nominee:

 

1. Give specific example(s) of how the team demonstrated the FLL Value(s).

2. Give specific example(s) of how the team used FLL Values to inspire others and describe the result of the team’s impact.

3. Are there any special circumstances of which the committee should be aware?

 

Evaluation Criteria – all  elements are equally weighted:

Ambassador
	team has shown to be an effective ambassador for the FLL program
Core Values Essay
	how team worked / well-rounded team
	showed/demonstrated friendly competition
	what did they discover
	what impact from the “share with others” aspect of project
	Gracious Professionalism
	Fun Moment
Demonstrating FLL Core Values
	in team meetings
	at tournament(s) and/or outreach opportunities
Feedback / Supporting documentation
	Tournament awards (Champion’s, teamwork, FLL Values)
	observations from tournament officials, volunteers
	news articles, other sources
Other requirements
	team has a working robot and project that includes all required components
	competed in tournament or explained why not
	supportive community