Re: Texas FIRST teams doubling in 2 years
 

Oh, if were only so easy! But since FIRST has distanced itself from IFI, I'm afraid that it will only go to FTC. :(

Re: Texas FIRST teams doubling in 2 years
 

OK. I’m going to attempt to write this more as a prayer than a rant. I hope it comes across the right way as I realize there is some detailed information we don’t yet have at our disposal. However, there are a few things I just feel compelled to state:

I pray…
1. … that the Governor and State of Texas apply their awesome vision for STEM/robotics education in a fiscally responsible and sustainable/lasting way.
2. … that this $1M won’t be thrown around quickly as a solution all by itself, with no consideration for the people in schools who will be asked to implement the program. I’ve seen ugly situations in the past.
3. … that these funds won’t be gobbled up by “hungry” schools who don’t really understand what it takes to compete in FRC/FTC.
4. … that, if we do wind up creating a bunch of new FIRST teams really fast, TX can find a way to support them all sustainably. The number of non-returning new teams from last year frightens me and I do NOT envy the job of the TX veterans
5. …. that when I see the key factor being a teacher or teacher decision as the reason for a team dropping out this year, that this WILL NOT become a program that creates more of these situations. I’m a full time teacher and the amount of energy it takes to sustain a full-time FRC program in/with the school is ungodly on top of the full-time job I get paid for. Not a year goes by I don’t consider stepping back. We’ve introduced FRC to at least three-dozen other teachers in our district. Most run away scared or laugh out loud even though they think it’s “cool”. For the brave few who have helped, I haven’t been able to sustain participation of any of them for more than two seasons and currently I’m the only teacher directly involved with our FRC team (unless you count one that said they’d look for pool noodles for us). Now if you want to talk VRC and robotics education in general, I can point to three other teachers in our district with a lot of involvement. (can you tell this part hits really, REALLY close to home for me?)
6. …that, although I’m thrilled TX supports STEM in schools with other funds as well, this $1M doesn’t make less of a lasting impact than it can.
7. …that there will be some application process whereby an applicant school MUST SHOW it’s READY to take on the program rigors and sustain both financial and people efforts needed to be a success (similar to NASA grant process, perhaps?).
8. …that someday someone will call and say they’ve got $1M to spend on robotics education and want to know what my friends and I think should be done (OK, this one is a little vain, but you get the idea…) By the way, I REALLY like Blake’s question above.

Namaste, TX, and good luck. My gut tells me you may need it.

Re: Texas FIRST teams doubling in 2 years
 

There may be an even bigger picture to think about/look at. I've created a new thread for discussion here.

Re: Texas FIRST teams doubling in 2 years
 

I think that the "lots of teams" model won't work very well. I'd rather see a third of the teams or fewer, but larger, with a very wide sponsor base apiece instead of a deep sponsor base for all of them. You have a wide base and lose a sponsor, you get another one. You have a deep base and lose a sponsor, you're hurting for years.

Instead of going for everybody, you go with one location in X area. That team is now responsible for getting rooted, developing business relationships, spreading the word, etc. in that area. Give it a few years, and ideally, it's ready to spin off another team that can last a long time because of existing relationships and new advertising. Something on the order of NiagraFIRST a few years back: we work as "one business unit" until you guys are ready to go it alone.

This is almost ignoring the FTC/VRC level, but you could easily modify that to work the same way. Club X runs out of room for new students, all the students in club X from Y area form club Z with its own complement of teams--and the relationships needed already in place.

Re: Texas FIRST teams doubling in 2 years
 

As of December 7th, 2009 data shows only 9 teams from 2009 not returning but one or two of those may be on a wait list bringing the number down to 7 or 8 of inactive teams. Of the current 9, three or four are veteran teams so about a 10% or less attrition rate in a 2 to 1 rookie to veteran team ratio. Current number of active Texas FRC teams is 105. greater than 10% net growth but 20% actual considering the attrition rate.

Anybody have figures for any other states? How does Texas compare? The above are estimates and guesses as I have not directly contacted the 120 total teams in Texas (current or past) to determine actual status for 2010.