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Unread 29-11-2012, 11:39
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Re: Engineering and Robotics program in danger

Quote:
Originally Posted by xitaqua View Post
The system is not perfect and it is in different levels of implementation in twelve communities. We have been implementing it since 92'. The goal is to have sustainable learning communities
I'm interested to know how your communities start this setup. We're on stronger footing now, but there was a time when we couldn't dream of investing enough to make FTC viable, and if we'd dropped FRC for FTC, we'd have lost most of our sponsors. The kids are more than happy to volunteer at FLL, but given the number of students that come from FLL or have significant experience otherwise, 3/4s of our team would not grow significantly (in STEM) from this.

How do you engage students? How do you engage sponsors? Engage the community to let you run camps? How do you retain mentors to come back alternating years (or do you not have mentors with FRC-specific skills, etc)? Are all your teams attached to schools? Where are they -- do they all have BEST hubs nearby? How large are the areas they cover and with how many students and mentors? What's the average, 4-year-average, annual budget? Is there anywhere this hasn't worked? How do kids that go through this cycle differently (for FRC or FLL their first year) handle it? Also echoing KelliV's #4, but for FTC.

Quote:
Originally Posted by xitaqua View Post
We are having a cardboard robot contest in Missouri this saturday, with cash prizes raised for the robotics club:
http://www.masrf.net/main_site/pdfs/...bot%20Club.pdf
Ah, so it is general household materials. I can see that, then. Do you find you have lower engagement in years you don't use the word "LEGO"? We've found elementary schoolers' (parents') ears are uniquely tund to this word. (You should see the interest difference between "Join our Robotics Club" and "Join Our LEGO Robotics Club" at some elementary schools.)
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