Re: WHAT TEAM MEMBERS GO TO NATIONALS
 

Thanks for correcting me Amy.

Re: WHAT TEAM MEMBERS GO TO NATIONALS
 

We work hard to be sure everone who is eligible to attend can attend every event.

Students are required to attend 80% of the meetings, maintain a defined gpa, and be passing all classes at the time of the trip (teacher leaders make sure of this.). Students are also expected to get small sponsors. Anyone who is not contributing to the team during the build season is dealt with then, not before travel time.

I think it is important for everyone who was a part of the team to travel with the team. The trips are the real reward for the season and how a team comes together as a group. Rookie team members can learn so much from being at the events that it is worth a lot of extra effort to get them there. You never know which student will get the super inspiration!

Two years ago we qualified for the Championship after attending 2 regionals. The funds were very low to cover even a portion of the team traveling. We ended up asking each student to contribute a little more money (students have to pay a fee to be a part of the team) and everyone was able to go. We stayed at a cheaper hotel, rented vans, and did picnic lunches everyday. It was great to be there and have the whole team with us.

So - some ideas to get the team there -

More fundraising.
Stay at off-site hotels, especially suite hotels with 5 to a room and free breakfast.
Ask students to put in some (more) money.

:)

Re: WHAT TEAM MEMBERS GO TO NATIONALS
 

We have a few ways of doing this. First, we have a system that tracks how many hours everyone's been at meetings. We use this to get a basis of how much they COULD have contributed, but it's not always that effective. This year, we're having each student write a list of what they've contributed to the team.

Re: WHAT TEAM MEMBERS GO TO NATIONALS
 

Also see this thread

Re: WHAT TEAM MEMBERS GO TO NATIONALS
 

Everyone who we feel deserves to go, goes to the competitions. This is usually everybody, as those who don't care enough about the team usually aren't on it by the end of build season, by their own accord.

Of course, this costs a bit of money. Some of it is payed by the team, and the rest comes from the students. And, to cut down on costs, we use parents' vans and trucks to transport toolboxes and such to nearby regionals, and a bus for those that are further away (fond memories of the 16 hour bus ride to nationals).

The bus also doubles as a mobile lock-in before the competition.

Re: WHAT TEAM MEMBERS GO TO NATIONALS
 

For Team 812 we also have a grading system and also requirements. The requirements are grades, 20 hours of FIRST community service, and to plan one FIRST community service event. As for the grading system, that actually has three components. It is based on a journal (measuring participation), attendance, and the a set of about 5 short answer questions on your contributions to the team. For Nationals, our goal is about 15 students every season with about 6 mentors. For Los Angeles regional, our mentors usually choose anyone that is above a certain point value, maybe 80 percent or so on the grading system.

Re: WHAT TEAM MEMBERS GO TO NATIONALS
 

Last year, we let anyone who put in at least 60 hours during build season go. This year, we're adding a stipulation that they have to also be involved in pre-season fundraising. It's pretty much at the discretion of mentors and team leaders; it's not hard to tell who deserves to go. Team members also have to donate $50 to go to the regional, and $300 for the championship.

Re: WHAT TEAM MEMBERS GO TO NATIONALS
 

For us its all about who puts in alot of participation and whos really into the team like who shows dedication etc. For pit crew theres only 4 from the electrical sub team and 4 from mechanical sub team and 2 or 3 from softtware sub team. So the people that have been chosen to be on pitcrew go to all the competetions. but this year only 2 people from each subteam get chosen to go to the Purdue regional. so there taking about 8-10 students. For nationals were takin about 30 students i think.

Re: WHAT TEAM MEMBERS GO TO NATIONALS
 

We let anyone go who can afford it/wants to go. All the money comes out of the students/parents pocket ($150 for hotels, and $200 if they chose to fly, much less if they are car pooling). Our team simple doesn't have enough extra money from sponors to pay the cost of the trip.

Re: WHAT TEAM MEMBERS GO TO NATIONALS
 

I feel badly for those 4 kids, if they are qualified. Maybe I misunderstood.
You have an amazing adult:kid ratio.

Re: WHAT TEAM MEMBERS GO TO NATIONALS
 

We have several requirements on 461;
1. $300 dollars of fundraising (most of the time, we just have parents pay for what we don't raise)
2. I think it is 80% attendence (which included PR events)
3. We have a clock-in/clock-out system that shows how many hours we have worked. This counts for advisors and high school students. more hours = dedication and dedication = traveling to nationals (and if we are lucky we get to go with the Tech crew) take a look at our times: http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~cagnew/at...ce/ranking.php

Re: WHAT TEAM MEMBERS GO TO NATIONALS
 

How exactly does that work? Our team sure could use something similar to that for who attends what meetings and for how long, people like to come to a meeting, sign their name on the paper, stay for 5 minutes, then leave. :(

Re: WHAT TEAM MEMBERS GO TO NATIONALS
 

we havent had a problem where we couldnt aford to bring everyone who wanted to go but just in case we have a sign in book that you put down the time you started working, what you worked on and then when you left. we made this up just in case we could only send a few team members we would check the log and see who had the most time working. as i said we never had to do that but i guess it would be a fair way to determine who can go and who can't.

Re: WHAT TEAM MEMBERS GO TO NATIONALS
 

We have a clock-in/clock-out system that shows how many hours we have worked too. it does not really work because no one really keeps track of the people. as was said before ppl clock in and leave and comeback later to clock out. But this year our team shrunk so its a little bit easier to know who was working and who was not. Also just cause they have the hours on the sheet does not mean they are actually doing anything. I find that it is not the time that counts as much as what you do during that time.

Basically we see how much the person has contributed. then we put together a tier system. and those who do the most pay the least. but every one does pay some green out of pocket. Usually the mentors pay their full way so that the students can go for less. We try to subsidize as much of the cost as possible while having some money in the bank left for next years regional entry fee.

Re: WHAT TEAM MEMBERS GO TO NATIONALS
 

Everyone on our team gets to go. Unless there grades aren't at the requirement, other reasons.