TOYtimes: Issue 11, 2009
CONGRATULATIONS AND THANKS TO YOU ALL!
We wanted to THANK YOU all once again for making the 2009 TOYchallenge Competition such a wonderful experience! There were many incredible entries this year which made it quite tough on the judges to select the winners.
We hope you all had a great time – it was wonderful to meet you all at last. While not every team won prizes, every team did outstanding work that gained them the prestige of an invitation to the competition finals. The judges were very impressed by all of the teams they saw. We truly believe that ALL teams were winners – it was very obvious from seeing the entries that all teams learned and mastered problem-solving, teamwork, communication and other skills that will make them winners in life, whatever career they choose to follow. That is the true measure of the TOYchallenge competition –a team may not win the year’s competition, but they will be a winner for life. Having followed the successes of kids who have taken part in the five years of this competition, we have already seen proof of this.
We know that some of you will be in the difficult position these next few weeks because your kids did not win prizes and medals. We strongly encourage you to share these words with them – it’s part of the responsibility of being a coach, and they may need a lift in spirits right now.
FEEDBACK
Was there something you would have changed from Nationals? Do you have questions or concerns regarding how Nationals is run? Please email us at toychallenge2009@sallyridescience.com with any questions or concerns you may have. We would love to hear your feedback!
SHOWING OFF YOUR TOY AND TEAM ONLINE
We'd love to show off your hard work even more – and have decided to dedicate new web space to do just that. We will add the photographs of the weekend that our team of photographers took, and they will soon appear via a link to the TOYchallenge home page. We may not have captured every team, and if you’d like to E-mail us photos for possible inclusion, we’d love to see yours too! They don’t have to have been taken at the judging table; they may be of other moments over the weekend (your costumes, for example).
ASSISTANCE WITH MEDIA – SO YOU CAN TELL THE WORLD!
So you can continue to tell your community about your experiences, please contact us if you would like a copy of our Post-Nationals Press Release to share with your newspapers, schools, media, etc.
DID YOU FLY SOUTHWEST TO THE NATIONALS?
If so, please let us know! Information on how many tickets you purchased (which we would remove your name and personal details from) will help us show Southwest Airlines how much business this competition generates for them, and encourage them to sponsor the competition in future years (including providing tickets for travel assistance for teams). Thanks!
WE'RE PROUD OF YOU ALL!
We saw some incredible toys and games in this year's competition – we wish you all could have won!! But as we're sure you have found out in the last few months– the process of doing TOYchallenge is even more important and this is the real prize – in the last couple of months, your teams became incredibly skilled engineers. We can't wait to see what these kids will do in the future – they are going to invent some cool and wonderful things and change the world! Please stay tuned for more information regarding the 2010 TOYchallenge Competition!