Team Sustainability

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by EricH

One thing to bear in mind: When (if) you go independent, make sure to inform your administration (particularly the ones that are friendly to you) that you are going independent--and that whoever wants to help out is welcome to join you.

That's quite an oversimplification. There are a lot more issues in play than remembering to tell the school that you're branching off. Keep in mind that things like robots, grants, and possibly the team's identity are the property of the school, and that forming an "independent" club may mean various legal issues with the team's students and participation.

[Johnny_5]

We have looked into 4H, and are considering it. But it seems as if 501c3 is more appealing and more flexible, plus then we don't have to abide by some of 4H's rules for age.

Can anyone tell me what we need to have in the ways of insurance to make sure everyone is protected?

And the fact is that except for a few teachers no one is going to fight us leaving. No one except students even know how to work our equipment.

Let me clear up one thing. We have plenty of students and even more coming next year. We are also hoping to open up to another local district with it being outside of our school system. We also have plenty of mentors who are interested in coming back next year plus a few more

[Carol]

Insurance isn't mandatory but is recommended - not all independent teams have it. But be prepared for the cost - MOE pays $3000 a year for insurance.

It sounds as if going independent would be a good solution, but you would be on your own for fundraising. Can you raise the, say $10,000 needed to compete?

One solution is to perhaps do FTC for a year or two, and then consider going back to FRC once you build up the support system. There is a strong FTC program in Ohio - about 100 teams or so. Team Overdrive, 2753, has done this very successfully - they started with FTC for a few years, did FRC (and won Archimedes Divsion in 2009 I think) for two years, but this year competed as FTC again, keeping their same name, logo, and team number the entire time.

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Johnny_5

We have looked into 4H, and are considering it. But it seems as if 501c3 is more appealing and more flexible, plus then we don't have to abide by some of 4H's rules for age.

Can anyone tell me what we need to have in the ways of insurance to make sure everyone is protected?

And the fact is that except for a few teachers no one is going to fight us leaving. No one except students even know how to work our equipment.

Let me clear up one thing. We have plenty of students and even more coming next year. We are also hoping to open up to another local district with it being outside of our school system. We also have plenty of mentors who are interested in coming back next year plus a few more

Knowing that they have an assembly plant in your town, Honda sounds like a wonderful corporate partner and source of experienced mentors/engineers. Have you asked those adults for advice and guidance in trying to work with your school administration? Perhaps they can help you out?

Many schools welcome community corporate involvement in their programs - it is great positive partnership that has benefits for everyone. If Honda is committed to being a sponsorship and mentor provider for your team, I would think they'd want the working arrangement for the team at the school to be as productive as possible, without causing the district any undue heartache.

Perhaps your Honda mentors' management can help arrange a meeting with the school leadership that establishes ground rules that work for all involved? The influence and backing of a large corporate community sponsor can often help a school "see things in a different light".

Who knows - they might even have resources (workspace, tools, access to equipment) they'd be willing to share. Has anyone asked them about this?

[Johnny_5]

We have never received any sort of aid from our school district other than a limited shop, some storage space, and the assigned teachers. Absolutely no money came from our school system.

FTC is being considered and it seems like a viable option if FRC falls through, but we are going to try as hard as we can to keep FRC until deciding to go to FTC.

Honda is an absolutely great sponsor to have locally. There was some contact with Honda management about getting access to the school because our school was freaking out about $50 and we were not allowed to use club funds to pay for it. That contact between Honda and the district did not fall under good terms from what I understand and besides a few emails, that was it.

Our school doesn't seem so welcome about corporate sponsoring. We had plans to bring it a metal lathe, stationary nice metal band saw, 3axis CNC vertical mill, and a vertical sander. And this was at no charge to them, free use because we wanted to have them. They shot that idea down so fast it wasn't even funny.

There are laws that govern minors in industrial facilities along with company policies that I could imagine are in place for working at Honda. They may have resources, they actually closed down the motorcycle manufacturing line a few years ago, wonder what that building is being used for.... And that is just not an idea we have pursued yet. The other issue with that is Honda is outside of our school district border so transportation out there would be very difficult for kids who can't drive. Another is like all teams students come from all walks of life and I know of some parents who cannot commit to driving all the way out of town to pickup their kids. And I would hate to not have some of the dedicated kids not be able to go because of issues like that.

I am waiting till summer to start fully planning and working on everything, that goodness that's only 2 days away. I am planning a meeting with the chamber of commerce and county commissioners. And then hopefully a town hall meeting. I would also like to meet with the Ohio regional FRC director to see what we can do.