[AndyB]

Now is the time to start seeking out the kids who are sitting in the corner, fading into the background, and losing confidence in their abilities. Get them involved and do as much as you can to show them that they can contribute as well.

Good job on getting the cart out of the way now. Also consider if your crate needs any maintenance.

FIRST is hard in the fall because most of the guys want to build something right away, and it's hard to wait until January. We went out and spent about $600 on a IFI Frame, a couple toughboxes, some wheels, sprockets, chain, and hardware and we're having our brand new students build a drive right away.

Being a team based out of a college, we have students from a few different area high schools. In previous years, we had 4-5 new students if we were lucky every year. This year, we have over 20.... from just one of the schools. Getting them something to do early is a great way to lock them in.

We all know how great FIRST is. The hard part is getting other people to see it as well.

Another great option is if you have the budget, going out and getting some VEX kits, creating your own game, and having the new students form into teams, and compete with eachother. This allows them to get a taste of FRC, the communication skills, the format of the build season, and aids them in getting to know people.

Other things you can do now:
• Website redesign
• Newsletter preperation
• Prototyping something
• Tshirt ideas and designs
• Teaching CAD, Inventor, and/or Solidworks
• Teaching about components
• Attend new control system seminars
• Teaching the new control system (tell them what you know, tell them what each thing does)

It sounds overall like you are doing a great job already. But make sure you take an approach that every student matters.