Bedford Junior High, Math & English - 10 years with FIRST
What we've heard about Ms. May:
"Our Coach, Ms. Debbie May, started the FIRST program in Bedford High School. It has stretched to all of the District's schools. She coached the Dana Unicorns from 2000-2006. Then, she pioneered the FIRST Tech Challenge in Beford by placing a FTC Team, the Dana Broncobytes, in the Junior High. This season she has taken over the Bedford High School FRC Team 1023, Bedford Express. She has completely rebuilt the high school team by installing a Student Leadership Board, prepparing a new handbook, and creating a wonderful mentor for all students involved. She helps us with whatever is needed and always devotes her time to us. Currently, she is coaching both the FTC team and the FRC team, because the FTC team advanced to World Championships. In Atlanta, she will be running back and forth between the two teams, devoting everything she has to both teams. She is an inspiration to all members of the team and we feel she greatly deserves this award...
Ten years ago, Debbie May was teaching a small robotics cluster at Smith Road Elementary when she was approached by her sister about starting a FIRST team. Right away, Ms. May was in love with the FIRST program. Since then, the FIRST program in Bedford has grown tremendously and has branched out to reach all schools in the district. Without Ms. May none of this would be possible. She stated the ten member team of the Dana Unicorns in 2000. She moved up to Bedford Junior High School in 2006 and brought the Dana Unicorns with her. In 2008, she realized that kids were losing interest in F.L.L. after six years of it, so she started the first junior high FIRST Tech Challenge team in Bedford, the Dana Broncobytes. This year is her second year coaching the Dana Broncobytes and she led them to win the Inspire award at the Chicago Competition this year. This year, she has put her heart and soul into two teams, by taking over the Bedford High School F.R.C. team 1023, Bedford Express. Since she led the Dana Broncobytes team to win the Inspire Award, she has stretched her time thin coaching two teams to compete at the Atlanta World Championships. She almost always has practice six nights out of the week, but she does not care, she would work all hours in order to help her students. Not only that, she is a role model for many team members, she works hard to get the word into the community regarding the two teams, and she goes above and beyond her normal duties as a coach.
Debbie May is a role model for many of the team members in a variety of ways. She works very hard at making sure all that we accomplish gets recognized by the community. We have had media nights where we show off our robots and awards, and she has arranged for the team to be broadcasted on the news. Also, a few team members have gone with her to Ann Arbor so they talk about the team and our service projects on air on the 102.9 radio station and she even paid for our dinner. She also put many hours into community service projects such as a book drive. We did so well we collected over 2000 books to donate to children in need. She helped by brainstorming, organizing, and helping us with whatever we need, but the best thing is that it is always what we want. She guides and advises, but never oversteps. Not only did she lead us in all the community service projects, she would often give us a ride home if our parents had to work late. She made sure all of us had dinner at the meetings; many of us would come straight from marching band practice and would not have time to eat until nine at night when robotics practice was over. She also acted like our mother when she would remind us that our grades in school always came first, even if we did have to make a few adjustments on the robot right before competition.
After all the late nights of practice, the community service projects, and media nights, Debbie May still finds time to work out all the budgets of the two teams. Because our teams have no really large sponsors, she encourages us to get presentations ready for possible sponsorships. She makes sure the robot has proper travel to show the sponsors, and helps us get slide shows and display boards ready. She works hard at everything the team needs her to do and more. Debbie May deserves the F.I.R.S.T. robotics coach of the year award because she goes above and beyond to make sure our team does as well as we can. She puts so many hours into making sure our team gets recognized, continues the teams on to younger generations, and helps those in need. She coaches two teams on a strict budget, but makes sure we still have fun and keep up on school work. She is our coach, our role model, and a mother figure."
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What we've heard about Ms. May:
