[pafwl]

At Lansdale Catholic (team 272) we do not have any entrance criteria for a student to be part of the team. I believe this leads to elitism. If we had entrance criteria I may not have been able to be part of it when I was in high school.

I allow anyone to come in and let the process grab them. I have seen many shy quiet students turn into leaders, movers and shakers. I have also seen many "elitists" do nothing but talk.

The only positions we have that any student can try out for is driver, operator or coach. We will not allow a student on jeopardy of academic probation from being on of these.

10 years ago we started and we always asked students to write their thoughts at the end. So do some don't. One student gained some great insight. She wrote "I have always thought that the high GPA students who were my friends in school knew everything. But what I learned is when it came to the real world like trying to design and build our robot they knew nothing. They did not even know where to start. The students I thought were not so bright and did not socialize with in fact knew how to do a lot of this. These people became key to any success we had. I learned that I will never prejudge anyone by their grades or looks."

Remember FIRST is "For Inspiration" of all students. It is a little tough to inspire students you won't allow in.