[Mike Martus]

The overall grade requirement of 2.5 to apply to the team is only slightly higher than the requirement for sports teams at our high school. We (the coaches) have long maintained that having standards for grades shows the students view on education and its importance to them. When evaluating a student in the application process and find a student that would benifit from being on the FIRST Team but is not meeting the GPA we take the GPA rule to a new level. The student is accepted to the team on provision that grades improve from that point. We provide tutoring if needed and work with the teachers to come up with a plan to solve the learning problems.

There is a major difference in a student that struggles with academics and a student that has a low regard for their education. Both are problems but both have different solutitions.

There is a strong correlation of students with low grades, behavior probems and attendance issues. I think we can all agree that behavior problems and attendance are critical issues for a team member. Dealing with behavior problems of team members will destroy your team flavor, and drive away many great students.

Yes, in my article you can view the GPA requirement as a contridiction to inspiration of a student who could benifit greatly. In the past 12 years as a coach and team leader in FIRST the benifits of the GPA in most cases outweigh the negative. I challenge every student I come in contact with to be a "Life Long Learner". This can take several forms including college, military and on the job training both formal and informal.

Your GPA in High School and College is a reflection of your cooperation with educational processes, nothing more. It is NOT a measurement of how much you know or how much you can learn.

Mike Martus