[Mark Pendergast]

We have had a mixed experience on our team. I spend a large amout of time directing traffic to ensure that everyone gets involved as much as possible.

First, have a mentor that is the 'get everyone involved' mentor. Look for people sitting on the sidelines, or goofing off, and give them specific assignments.

Don't be afraid to assign busy-work. Our students have made coat racks, alternate parts for the robot - i.e. a second gripper concept - or investigated new types of sensors.

The biggest challenge is students that are afraid to try anything unless you are physically holding their hand - and sometimes I spend half an hour just doing that.

We have also had good luck with having new students mock up aspects of the FRC robot in vex kits. (We have about five kits to play around with.)

As a last resort their are safety posters, reading the rules and reading Chief Delphi.

In some ways, as a small team, it is a balancing act to keep everyone engaged AND build a quality robot. Normally, we shift focus through the year. Our fall preseason is almost 100% getting people trained, the first three weeks of the build season are biased toward engagement and the last three weeks are a panic to finish the robot.

Hope this is food for thought...