Quote:
Originally Posted by msimon785
It is by design. On 1717, 9th, 10th and 11th grade are spent in preparation for the culminative senior year that is FIRST. I know in 10th and 11th grade, you have the option of coming to competitions (I don't remember the details, though), but your only experience building an FRC robot is in 12th grade.
IIRC, each grade focuses on a specific aspect of engineering - so the students get a well-rounded background - before they participate in FRC.
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As I've heard, the FRC competition in the senior year is the culmination of the 4 year program. They aren't just a robotics team, but an engineering academy.
The BeachBots have had the pleasure of knowing and competing with team 1717 for several years now and have seen them grow into a powerhouse team. They continue to improve each year and are wonderful competitors and friends.
On May 26th the D’Penguineers had an open house at their new engineering academy building in Goleta and invited the BeachBot team, as well as many others, up to visit. Many of us took the drive (3.5 hours that should have been 2) to go visit with them.
As many of us know, Amir's program and foundation at Dos Pueblos High with which he created the "Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy" is a great example of what can be done to promote, inspire, and educate students, not just in engineering, but in many disciplines that have a significant contribution to our culture and future.
I don't know if it's all in the “New Cool” book about them or not (that’s still on my reading list), but if you have any interest in replicating what they are doing (and you should) I think these notes will give you a bit of an idea of how to go about it.
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Engineering Academy notes:
Key: Curriculum is approved by the University of California schools so it counts toward entrance requirements. Parents prefer their kids take courses that help them get into college. Without this approval it's a nice program, but parents won't invest as much into it and won't want their kids to invest time in it since it wouldn't count towards college entrance requirements. [There are many universities that recognize FIRST students and offer scholarships to them, but the time invested with the team is not often recognized as satisfying a university entrance requirement]
Steps to make it happen (how it can be replicated):
1. It starts with someone passionate about it to drive it (thanks Amir!).
2. Build a board of directors - a few or all of these people are to emphasize funding and organization. They provide the Board of Directors for the 501(c)3 corporation.
3. Create a 501(c)3 organization - the foundation. This includes creating a mission statement and creating the financial structure needed (bank accounts, double signature approval process), financial
accountability, etc. A lawyer and an accountant on the board would help greatly with this.
4. Study and replicate DPEA's curriculum: Art, Science, Math, Engineering (technology). Art is important as it leads to design and creativity. DPEA (Amir) has done all the legwork, just replicate his curriculum, he seems glad to share it. Again, the curriculum is critical as without the UC approval it's just a nice club. Note that FIRST robotics is a part of the program for the second half of the senior year. It’s not a robotics program but an engineering program. FRC is just the last project (in a long line of increasingly more complicated projects) for the seniors.
http://www.dpengineering.org/academy/plan/four_year2
- Read the example projects and course descriptions on this page (really, take some time to review this stuff):
http://www.dpengineering.org/academy/plan/courses2
5. Design a plan: building needs, number of kids, equipment needs, personnel needs - paid and qualified teachers and engineers. Finding or training the right teachers will be important. Even to the point of having them spend time with Amir if possible. Define a budget, organization, and implementation schedule.
6. Begin to seek funding, both initial and on-going commitments. Develop a presentation for fundraising that includes detailed goals, costs, budget, etc. Include some students in the presentation to local businesses, corporations and foundations. 10 minutes long, no more. In person presentations if at all possible.
7. Develop a website and marketing materials leading into step 8 below.
8. Build energy in the community. Promotions, awareness, value to kids and community. I think this too is critical. DPEA works well since Santa Barbara is a small town community (well to some of us). Marketing to the local businesses, television station, newspapers, and the people in general works better since they all identify with the community (businesses want to be seen as participants, giving back; people want to see local schools, teams, doing well; etc.) In a metropolitan area you would have to define what your support community is and build lines of communication, marketing, awareness, value, and excitement about the project, etc.
9. Based on funding, create a timeline and identify resources needed at each point. Then for sustainment.
10. Begin implementation. Identify qualified instructors. Retired engineers? Possibly even seek donation of current engineer's time from corporations (4 hours, twice a week, who knows). Art teachers. Math & Science teachers.
Advantages from using Amir's work:
- curriculum approved by UC schools so it counts toward entrance requirements
- he's already done a lot of the leg work on all this
- visibility of his program
I think it would be good to have those at DPEA take a look first, to see if there's anything I missed that they think would be helpful to add. Could be something big I'm overlooking that they could point out.