Quote:
Originally Posted by Tristan Lall
Consider what policies will do the most good in the long run. Promoting service and good grades are certainly admirable, but that doesn't mean it's always the right way to go about things.
I'm not picking on you specifically, but I do feel compelled to suggest that there are students who are not planning to attend an engineering school, and for whom the grades cannot be the top priority. Consider the ones with significant psychological issues (e.g. behaviour, social skills, etc.). If they need a place where they can get a chance to learn interpersonal skills (like a team), it might just help them to become well-adjusted adults, as opposed to pathologically antisocial engineers (who got good grades).
"Never" is a strong sentiment: we should use it with caution.
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While I understand where you are coming from I must disagree. FIRST is not about the competitions, it is about inspiring kids, if we have two students who are equal in everything except student a is passing their classes whereas student b is failing 2 classes is it proper to give student b the same privileges as student b? What message is that sending? To me it is sending the message that doing the bare minimum is no longer required. In this age where standards are being lowered so more people can pass can we really encourage that? I am not saying that only students with straight A's can travel, I am saying students that are PASSING can travel. Also, this standard does not have to be set in stone, if a student fails a test and that is the only grade it is unreasonable to penalize them this strongly, let them travel with the caveat that they must study during free time. Ultimately it is up to the mentors to decide if the student and the team would benefit from having that student along.
Students on FIRST teams who are not going into engineering are important but grades should be maintained, the notion that an arts major (as an example) is somehow less challenging than engineering is very irritating to me. Just because they are not going into engineering does not mean their classes are somehow less important to them.
Psychological issues, this comes down to the mentors, the student, and the parents. The teachers may also be involved. If the mentors feel that the student is trying his/her best to do well there would be nothing wrong with making an exception with the parents and teacher's permission of course.
Essentially my point is that FRC means you miss a lot of school, if you cannot handle missing that much school you should not. If this means you don't travel Thursdays or can only come on Saturdays then that is what it takes.