[Dan 550]

We at 550 are students at Warren County Technical School, NJ, so we do robot-related activities six hours a day during school, every day. We meet for two hours after school every Tuesday and Thursday and sometimes Monday and Wednesday, in addition to 4-10 hours each Saturday and an occasional team lunch. We have every tool that we need to use close at hand, every day, whether it be a hammer or a CNC milling machine. The team core is a group of around a dozen students, but there are at least 100 students involved in our program. Planning and such is done generally individually and then discussed within the week. We're a lot better organized now then we were a year ago when we were just begining to get a feel for FIRST. I'd suggest that a rookie team finish design and strategy by Monday, January 14, so you can get to building soon. Best of luck to all.

-Dan, who really knows what it feels like to be a rookie team.