[Collin Fultz]

Katy -

Perhaps you are already doing these things, but if not, a few suggestions...

-CD isn't really the place to find new members. Really the only chance on these forums is to find "displaced" members of old teams still active in FIRST. I would suggest doing some "targeted recruiting" at the schools in the areas closest to you. This would take some coordination between your school's administration and the administration of the target school, but will probably give you better results. Also, your team must be ready to fight the school board battles concerning team member travel.

-For general advertising, local newspaper ads work great. You may have to pay for an ad, but a "human interest" story about your team in a local paper where you mention that you are looking for students from other schools to join your team would be free. Think creatively.

-I would do the administration work first. Hopefully your administration is ok with you bringing in students from other schools/townships...but perhaps not. Get this approval (in writing) before really starting recruiting.

-Also, just a side note, but when these new students come on the team, make sure you are treating them as any other team member. You don't want them to feel like outsiders. Leave rivalries outside the team.

Best of luck! I applaud your team for doing this. In our current economic situation, perhaps a better goal than "a FIRST team in every school" should be "every school with access to a FIRST team"...but that's a whole other thread...