How many teams do you mentor?

[Nuttyman54]

I mentor two FRC teams currently, and a friend of mine was asking how common that was. Instead of trying to guestimate, I figure I'd ask the CD community. How many FRC teams do you mentor? (please do not include FLL and FVC teams in this poll)

[kaszeta]

I selected one, since I primarily mentor Team 95. I have also lend minor assistance to several other teams in the area, however.

[Nuttyman54]

thanks for voting! primary teams is what I wish to count, since I imagine most FIRST mentors would lend assistance to any teams that asked for help.

[Billfred]

Officially, I mentor 1618. At the same time, I still read 1293's forums and chat with their folks on AIM about build and strategy and such.

[K.Shaw]

whoaaa lol who mentors 5+ teams? that's what i call dedication.

I only mentor team 237 because it's hard to do the whole college thing and mentor multiple teams hah.

[Alex Cormier]

yeah that 5+ seems like crazy dedication. you should have made this a public viewed poll, as we could see who picks what choice.

[DCA Fan]

Officially, I mentor one team, but I help out all SoCal and San Diego teams if they request it.

[Jeff K.]

Our team helps 3 FRC teams in the SoCal area, but then we also mentor other teams, FLL and FVC teams, 2 FLL at a middleschool, as well as another FVC team at that middleschool.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Officially, I mentor Wildstang and rookies who are turning to us for help each year (1 or 2). These are not full time mentoring, just a day here and there with email questions thrown in. In addition, I mentor FLL at the middle school here in Wheeling and we have fielded as many as seven teams in past years, two this year. Many rookie teams need help at events, and Lead Inspectors are in a great position to help as they know how events are handled and what new teams need to know as the weekend progresses. They also know which teams in the pits may be best able to assist with certain problems and which teams are struggling. That part of 'gracious professionalism' that causes inspectors and other mentors to help, kicks in at events to insure that all students have a great time.

[Cory]

Two teams. Both work at the same facility, so it's a bit more like 1.5 :)

[Koko Ed]

I get in enough trouble mentoring one team.
If I did five teams I'd be less one wife.
Does mentoring a Lego League team count?

[DonRotolo]

I agree with Koko Ed: One team is already a strain. I did try a second team last year, but their location (an hour away) made that really difficult, although they definitely needed my help more than the team I'm with.

It tears me up inside a little bit, because they are really good kids with good dreams, and hard workers with good skills. Their coach is a good guy and has a good handle on things, and where they meet there's a university machinist who is a great mentor, and he is super helpful to them as well.

Don

[Nuttyman54]

(please do not include FLL and FVC teams in this poll)

In case you missed this, I'm not counting Lego League teams and Vex teams

[Barry Bonzack]

Last year I mentored both 1604 and 1390, luckily this year they merged into one team. I also help out 1543 and 1065 when I can, and enjoy going over to 1902 meetings because I enjoy the company. I've been working on starting a team in my hometown in Bartlesville Oklahoma, which has formed to rookie team 2165. I keep up with their events and progress and send e-mails with guidance when they have questions. Looks like primary answer to this year is one team, but it feels like more.

[Taylor]

Eleven people mentor five or more teams? Surely we've got some jokers in here. Unless they accidentally counted VEX or FLL.

[fredliu168]

I mentor 5 FLL teams and 2 VEX teams

Does that count?

**whoops didnt see original post =\

[BandChick]

(please do not include FLL and FVC teams in this poll)

So the answer to that question, is NO, my friend.

I will be honest, mostly I just mentor 1089. But I also now am working with 1882, and the rookies 2180 and 2191. I guess in some ways I could be considered an un-official mentor of 25, I do still work with the guys. I always ask the 1807 guys how they're doing, and anyone on my team would jump to help them out. And I promised Libby I would do anything they needed since I'm right nearby. So I guess that puts me in a position to be a mentor to 1923.

[Jay H 237]

I'm with Koko Ed and Don, one team is more than enough.


You won't see me mentoring 4 or 5 FRC teams unless I was retired...........or gone insane. ;)

[Dorienne]

I mentor my former team, 007, and 1719, whom have pretty much restarted from the ground up this past summer.

Both of them is a handful for me, so I'm hoping I can still juggle 'em both in the future, once my health problems start to level out.

[GIR]

I currently mentor one team. I was attempting to mentor two teams concurrently; but, with limited time and resources I had to dial it back to one. For now, it's a lot easier this way in order to dedicate myself to seeing the project through to the end.

Kudos to those mentors who time-share between teams!

[Liz Smith]

Right now I'm mentoring 3 teams. My old team 555, the 2nd year all-girls team 1929, both from Montclair, NJ. Most recently, I'm helping out an awesome rookie team 2070 from Ridgefield, NJ.

For the first two, the robotics routine is pretty well established, so most of my time this year was (and is still) devoted to 2070.