This past Friday we inaugurated a new President. Whether you are happy or not with who the President of the United States is doesn’t matter. This isn’t a political post. What this post is about is how to REALLY make America Great Again!
As many Americans, I have thought a great deal about the slogans the Presidential candidates used over the past two years. I think we all have it wrong. We are looking to a person to make the United States of America the country we want it to be. We need to be looking in the mirror. We need to look inside and ask our selves, “How can I make America great again?”
This picture was posted on Facebook. 
I love how this teacher used this moment in history to work to bring out greatness in second graders. Read it all the way through. The teacher doesn’t add his/her opinion on who was elected. He/she talks about how we can make this country and this world a better place.
This image got me thinking about the recent First Lego League competition my team competed. FIRST has core values that the teams are expected to follow. They are:
- We are a team.
- We do the work to find solutions with guidance from our coaches and mentors.
- We know our coaches and mentors don’t have all the answers; we learn together.
- 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® and Coopertition® in everything we do.
- We have FUN!
Notice that all of the core values are working together and being kind. FIRST uses the terms Gracious Professionalism and Coopertition. (Click on the terms to see the meaning.) Both are all about being kind and working together. That is what I truly love about the FLL tournaments. (The bracelets shown above are handed out when a student or coach displays either Gracious Professionalism and Coopertition. I am honored to wear the one that I earned at the last tournament. One boy from my team also was given a bracelet. It reminds us that we need to work together and be kind.
FIRST is leading the way to show children and adults that there is a better way. And that way is learning and growing together through being kind and working together. What a wonderful world this would be if we all showed some Gracious Professionalism and Coopertition.
American can only be great if we make it that way! Thank you Kid President for this tweet, “We need everybody to be awesome to everybody. But… not everybody will do that. Thankfully there’s you. You can do that. Go be you.”
Go be you and let’s ALL make America Great Again!