[Trying to Help]

JVN and others -

It's not excusable and it can, maybe, be fixed with determination and information like Michael C. spoke about. I hope. Team 1114 has helped our team with their excellent information on their website. Their ability to help and lead should never be denigrated.

Sometimes, despite all that you do as a mentor, it might not be enough. A case in point: after GSR, a friend of mine who isn't a FIRST mentor, mentioned that one of her daughter's friends had commented on how rude students from my team had been at GSR. I was shocked to hear that, let me tell you! We had gone over and over again about our expectations for behavior at any team event, never mind a competition. We talked about it quite a bit and I think I may have an inkling as to what went on. We never competed against this other student's team, so I'm thinking that it's probably a case of confusing one team with another. (And if anyone on CD can confirm this behavior rumor and give me details, please pass them along in a PM.)

BUT if I find out that it definitely was one of our students, there will be serious consequences even if it's an "explainable" case. Last year, we had a student who was spoken to by a mentor for just this sort of issue. After a second non-GP incident, he was asked reconsider his priorities and when he could come up with a plan for meeting our expectations, then we'd be happy to talk with him about his place in the team. Unfortunately, we haven't seen him since.

I know we've tried to emulate and teach a sense of fairness, helpfulness and the desire to learn from other teams. I know that we're all human and that we've probably missed some perfect teaching moments at our competition. All we can do is keep trying. I know I will.