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April 15th, 2023 by Hannah Haseltine
Last week, Elizabeth Giovanardi, local teacher and mentor for Melrose’s robotics team, Red Hawk Robotics, received the Woodie Flowers Finalist Award. Each year, students can submit an essay nominating a mentor from their team to receive this award, known as the WFFA for short. The WFFA is awarded in the form of a trophy given to the mentor, and a blue banner for the team; blue banners are only given in recognition of the most prestigious awards at FIRST. It was presented to two mentors at the New England District Championship who exemplify what it means to lead, inspire, and empower using excellent communication skills, one of whom was Melrose’s very own Ms. Giovanardi.
Long-time Melrose educator and mentor, Elizabeth “Betsy” Giovanardi, affectionately known by her students as Ms. G, was aware of the award before receiving it, but never knew how a mentor was nominated. She expresses how appreciative she is of the students who nominated her, and how she sees it as a team award, rather than for an individual. “We all need each other to thrive, and I couldn’t be the mentor and educator that I am without the students who inspire and motivate me.”
ELIZABETH GIOVANARDI received the Woodie Flowers Finalist Award, which is only awarded to two mentors out of the 185 teams in the New England District.
Dr. Woodie Flowers, the co-founder and National Advisor of the FIRST Robotics Competition, was considered by many to be the father of competition robotics. He also coined the term “Gracious Professionalism,” which is part of the core ethos of FIRST. The award was first given to Dr. Flowers himself in 1996 by Dr. William Murphy.
“I was fortunate enough to have met Woodie Flowers while attending competitions in the past and really respect his influence on FIRST competitions, especially gracious professionalism. I try to model this by treating all students with respect and I let them know they all contribute to the team, whether it’s big or small,” Ms. Giovanardi says of the award.
Giovanardi voices how proud she is of the team’s recent accomplishments, including advancing to worlds and earning the team’s first blue banner. As Ms. G says, “It’s the first, but not the last!”
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