How to get students join the team?

[SamMullen]

When we've run into problems like this, we've found that the easiest ways to get people who are really into first are to either:
drag in random friends, give them tools, and tell them to do something. They won't understand what's going on, but by the time they've figured it out they're normally already hooked.
or to look for kids in physics classes that have already had some experience building things. Kids with carpenters or construction workers, or if you're really lucky engineers for parents can be not only a great supply of already partially trained kids, but mentors as well.

[Matt C]

Feed them.

[Dancin103]

Originally Posted by Matt C

Feed them.

That's always a good option!

[Lledargo]

This is a wonderfully helpful thread, thanks everyone for the information.

[LightWaves1636]

We do robot demos during lunch time in the cafeteria. It helped out A LOT.

We also make visits to every class: specifically science, math, and engineering classes.

Next year, we're participating at athletics events with a t-shirt cannon so we can have a robotics booth set up for recruiting and we're going to particpate at the school rallies.

[Koko Ed]

Invite them to a FIRST event (regional or off season event) if it's local. Nothing sells FIRST better than seeing the end product in action.

[Cyberphil]

Originally Posted by LightWaves1636

We do robot demos during lunch time in the cafeteria. It helped out A LOT.

We also make visits to every class: specifically science, math, and engineering classes.

Next year, we're participating at athletics events with a t-shirt cannon so we can have a robotics booth set up for recruiting and we're going to particpate at the school rallies.

That is actually a great idea! I might have to see if we could do that ourselves!

[LightWaves1636]

Originally Posted by Cyberphil

That is actually a great idea! I might have to see if we could do that ourselves!

Thanks! The key thing with recruiting your own high school is to simply support the school and everyone a part of it and they support the team back. It's worked amazingly for us.

and yeah, i can't believe I forgot our middle school students. It won't be this year but the year after, we're going to do summer camps for the 7th graders and have 8th graders automatically join the team after the school year ends.

This year, we're only doing the 8th grade part. We're visiting their middle school and presenting to all the 8th graders.

[Robby Unruh]

We were a rookie team last year as well. At the end of the school year, a couple members from our team went to the middle school to present the robot and show some videos of it in action. Videos were the best we could do since there's no 'local' regionals (closest is probably Boilermaker all the way in Lafayette!). That got a couple freshman interested, but we only managed to hold on to them until mid-build season. That wasn't too hard of a hit for us, but we managed to pull through and finish our bot this year.

This year we gained 3 or 4 new members, giving us a total of 7 students, 3 mentors, and 2 teachers. We're hoping to do some presentations at the middle school again and get even more 8th graders interested, nothing feels better than showing off your robot.

[Unicorn_Knight]

I feel your pain, my team consists of 14 girls from grades 9-12. I've found a fantastic way to advertise though is through videos of prior competitions, of your robot in action, etc.

Also, a HUGE thing is the merchandise. As soon as you having flaming unicorns on the back of your hoodies, everyone wants to come to the competition. I'm not kidding, unicorns are a big deal here.

If you can, see if there are any FLL teams in the area and advertise your team there. Those kids know what FIRST is about and how much fun the competition is.

Another thing is incorporating your robots in school events. Genghis Khan, last year's robot, has been part of this year's Senior Skits for our school and PIMP, this year's robot, is going to be putting up our team banner next to all of the "real" sports banners.


And trust me, the most important thing you can do is have your team members show some team spirit and wear their t-shirts, hoodies, buttons, etc. Most people are actually interested in joining, they just don't know that much about it and they don't know who to talk to. Make your team available to them, not some super secret clique.

[Jon Stratis]

As others have said, it's all about advertising. They've posted great ideas about that here, so I'm not going to re-hash them. From what I've seen, the biggest reason kids don't get involved (especially freshmen) is the time commitment. It's not like soccer, football, baseball, basketball, or any other sport - this isn't something they've done before and thus know it's worth the time commitment. It's something that sounds like fun, but they just don't know for sure that it will be.

So, your job is to first get them interested in learning more, and then get them hooked. Advertising will get them interested, getting them hooked takes a bit more. It takes getting them in a lab or shop and doing some actual work. It takes getting them interacting with the rest of the team and seeing for themselves how fun and stimulating robotics can be.

We started a "summer camp" for prospective students last year, and it seemed to work really well. We got a lot of incoming freshmen and sophomores to show up for a few hours a night for two weeks, and worked with them building Junior Theremins from this site: http://www.madlab.org/kits.html

Those are great little projects that can be done quickly, get someone hooked, and give them something they can take home with them.

So, I recommend once you get a group of interested people, get them in the shop and interacting with your team before the season starts. Focus on something that requires a low time commitment but teaches them valuable skills while having fun.

[nlknauss]

As a part of your recruiting, I would also suggest advertising the scholarships that are available to students on your team who participate in the program. This can be a good way to attract upperclassmen who are certain they'd like to study STEM subject areas after high school.

Usually these students end up wishing they were a part of the team earlier!

[DoronS]

As people have mentioned, robot demos definitely get a lot of people hooked. However, don't just show off the robots, but let prospective newbies drive them!
You do have to be careful about mentioning college to people. The people who sign up for the ability to add robotics to their transcript generally quit the team pretty quickly once they figure out how it actually works. We'll mention it it on one of the posters that we put up around our school before our interest meeting, but at the actual meeting we're very careful to emphasize that while FIRST involvement is a powerful tool, you will only get out of FIRST what you put into it...

[jordie228]

We have found that it's easier to get students involved in the team during off-season events. We have a lot of team building outings during the summer and that's where we usually invite our incoming students, that way they get to know the other students and the mentors in a less-stressful environment. We usually do bowling, minigolf, or trips to the beach, stuff like that.

But advertising is also a big part of it, as other people have said.

Another, slightly more corny idea, is a "bring a friend to robotics" day on your team. That's actually how I got involved my freshman year.

I hope this helps!

[2471ANNA]

Originally Posted by SuperNerd256

But does it work?

no no no. i didn't post that and as soon as i figure out how to delete it...ugh i think it's time for a CD password change. i need to protect myself from the programmers/expert hackers of the team..