For the past month or so we've been working on some major upgrades/redesign of last year's robot, and will be taking it to the Minnesota Regional Invitational in Roseville next month.
The whole point of the fall program is learning - learning new skills, learning about the team, learning about FIRST. It's the time for students to grow and get ready, because during the build season, we don't have time for all of that
. As an example, at our meeting on Monday, there were 5 freshmen, 3 sophomores, and 1 junior working on the robot. No seniors, and the rookies outnumbered the returning students!. It gave them great practical experience in working on a robot that will definitely come in handy during the build season!
The fall (and summer!) is also when you should be doing all of that non-robot stuff. Hold out reach events (our next one is schedule for this Saturday!), recruit new members, work on your team handbook and business plan, update your website, start on your chairman's submission... All great stuff to do before the season starts!