[Eugenia Gabrielov]

* Team Name / Number: Westside Boiler Invasion, Team 461
* Team Location: West Lafayette, IN
* How many student team members: Varies, usually between 40-60
* How many schools: 2
* Breakdown - how many students from each of the schools (generally): About 75% from West Lafayette HighSchool and 25% from Harrison, this year it was a bit less from Harrison and a bit more from West Lafayette
* How do you organize your team with multiple schools: We start early with callouts and meetings and materials. Harrison High School is holding a callout for students after the Championship Event, and WLHS usually holds a callout in early early fall. Most of our communication is through the web: the website is very popular with students and they're able to see calendars months in advance at the click of a mouse. By using an attendance system based on sub-teams and not schools, we even out the playing field a bit as to it not mattering much what school an individual is from, since the two schools are within 20 minutes of each other.
* What are pros / cons you have seen given your arrangement: Right now we have a lot more from one school or the other, which kinda makes it a bit difficult to attract other kids becuase it's not meeting at thier school. We do our best to overcome the location factor by encouraging presentations and working with students from other schools on their schedules.
* Do you have any advice to other teams who may want to do something similar: An inter-school relationship is a huge advantage for a successful team. Different schools have different personalities, and sometimes even rivalries between one another. By encouraging students from different schools to work closely together, we build connections and (hopefully) eliminate stereotypes about the schools.