Student lettering in FRC

[SuzyQ.42]

I think it just varies by school, but getting anywhere in school admin starts with asking at the front desk. If someone chooses not to allow varsity letters for robotics, then at least you know who to petition, right?

[BX HANNAH]

Originally Posted by Hallry

That's what I was really asking, how did you get the school to approve giving out varsity letters to robotic kids?

I know this response is a little late. However, hopefully it's still relevant! Or hopefully you already are getting varsity letters at your school!

I worked to get Bedford Express (1023 from MI) varsity letters during my sophomore year (2008). I actually started in my Honors English class because we were asked to write a persuasion essay on a topic we were very passionate about. Most people chose abortion, gay marriage, lowering drinking age, etc but I chose something I was really passionate about-how FIRST students deserved just as much recognition as the athletes in our school. I gathered as much information as I could (Other teams requirements, how the letter impacted the students, how the principal initially felt, impact on FIRST on students/communities etc). I even worked with my coach on designing the letter. We also had to present to the class which I was nervous about because I figured the students in my class wouldn't support me. After my presentation, the students in my class were APPALLED that the FIRST team didn't receive sport recognition. My teacher and my coach encouraged me to try for varsity letter recognition and for the first time I actually felt like we could get it.

After that, it was just a series of presentations. I proofread my paper a million times and presented it along with what I thought the requirements should be in addition to my presentation. I started gathering other teachers who supported me, and then I presented to the principal. He was supportive of the program, but not sure it warranted a varsity letter. My coach and I just kept talking to people... the athletic director, teachers, other coaches, school board members. And I kept talking to my principal. We also made this video and used it to present to administrators: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8-CVg0QAyg

Eventually, we got through to them and Bedford Express has been giving varsity letters to students who fulfill our varsity requirements for two years.

PM me if you need anymore help!

Biggest piece of advice, get to know your administrators and make sure they know what FIRST is!

[Debbie]

Originally Posted by BX HANNAH

I know this response is a little late. However, hopefully it's still relevant! Or hopefully you already are getting varsity letters at your school!

I worked to get Bedford Express (1023 from MI) varsity letters during my sophomore year (2008).

PM me if you need anymore help!

Biggest piece of advice, get to know your administrators and make sure they know what FIRST is!

Additionally, we have a page on our website dedicated to helping teams get varsity letters. Much of what Hannah said is there. We also are collecting teams that award Varsity letters on the website so that you have a collection of resources. Also, some of the CD threads are linked there. http://www.bedfordexpress.org/varsity

Any teams that give letters are asked to please add your website to our database so that we have a solid resource. We are working at publishing team requirements there as well, but have not finished that part yet.

Good Luck!

[joe5joe7]

Our team has varsity letters, although now they are varsity "activity" letters. It was hilarious though because for the first two years of the team, the only letters they had were athletic letters. I have one at home that reads "varsity athletics letter: FIRST robotics".

[sgreco]

I want to start by saying that if people get varsity letters for doing FIRST that's great, and I really don't have a problem with that, but suppose I do question why people think it is an honor to receive a varsity letter for doing FIRST, or a dishonor for not receiving one (whichever way you choose to look at it).

I'd like to remind everyone what a varsity letter is. It is an award earned for participation in a sport. It's not a recognition for any extra-curricular activity. A general sentiment around Chief Delphi seems to be that FIRST is a sport. A sport is "An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others." People seem to think that it's "better" to be classified as a sport than as something else. FIRST is fantastic. In my opinion, it's the best extra-curricular activity one could get involved in during high school. It teaches kids so many things, and it's inspiring to so many individuals. But it's not a sport.

Respect FIRST for what it is. Don't try to lump it in a category with sports because you feel it legitimizes the activity. That doesn't need to be done. FIRST is good enough on it's own, and we all know that. I never felt the need to be recognized with sports teams. We participate in a different activity, and get recognized in our own way, and we should be proud of that.

I feel like it's a dishonor to the true value and uniqueness of FIRST to consider it just a sport. FIRST is great as it is, classifying it as a sport makes it no better or worse, but why classify in a category to which it does not fit by definition? The classification of 'sport' doesn't make FIRST better, it just makes it a little less unique.

For some reason this topic bothers me every time it comes up, so please disagree with me if you do, but I feel like voicing my opinion. I have this discussion a lot with friends I have on FIRST teams, and I seem to be in the very underrepresented minority with my beliefs on this topic. I don't really understand why, so I'd be curious to hear what other people think, and maybe even convince me that we should be getting varsity letters.

[Savvy578]

My team specifically does not give out Varsity letters. But our school works a bit differently than most. We give out Varsity letters along with a Varsity pin. If you gain Varsity status in another sport, you get a pin for that sport as well. If you are on Varsity for a sport at one point, you are considered Varsity for the rest of your seasons on the team and you get a service bar pin. With that said, maybe they could give out Varsity pins for robotics in the shape of a FIRST logo? My school also gives out the "Old English F" award, which is essentially an academic Varsity letter. It requires 85% attendance and GPA, as well as participation in 3 extra-curricular activities. Maybe something like that for robotics. For the idea of Varsity letters for regional winners, what if the gave out patches? They look like this: http://www.sectionvsoccer.org/Images%5Cpatch2.gif
Maybe give these out to the top 2 or three seeded teams?

[Ducky280]

My team has varsity letters. Our requirements for earning one is either being on the team for two years if your a freshman or if your not a freshman but a new on the team that year and worked hard, then you would also get a varsity letter.
I have no idea how we got them in the first place, all I know is it took a while to get them though.

[Debbie]

Originally Posted by sgreco

I'd like to remind everyone what a varsity letter is. It is an award earned for participation in a sport. It's not a recognition for any extra-curricular activity. A general sentiment around Chief Delphi seems to be that FIRST is a sport. A sport is "An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others." People seem to think that it's "better" to be classified as a sport than as something else. FIRST is fantastic. In my opinion, it's the best extra-curricular activity one could get involved in during high school. It teaches kids so many things, and it's inspiring to so many individuals. But it's not a sport.

That may be your definition, and your definition of sport may vary from mine, but in my school district, the marching band and the varsity choir have the opportunity to earn varsity letters. Whether FIRST is a sport or not depends on your definition of sport. With poker on ESPN now, that line seems to get more and more blurred everyday. The definitions do not even agree with each other. They range from recreation to organized physical activity. If my favorite sport (NASCAR) is a sport, and hunting and fishing are sports, why is FIRST not a sport? Isn't our tag line sports for the mind?

For me, FIRST is a sports model with a unique twist... Gracious Professionalism. We compete with our brain in an organized competition. Either way, why is it wrong to recognize those that want to participate in a brain activity instead of a bash your brain activity? Why not give everyone this opportunity to earn a letter. FIRST kids are proud of their accomplishments and deserve this recognition if they want it. JMHO

[BigJ]

1675 works like this:

1st year = small letter and graduation numerals
2nd year = large letter
3rd year = chevron
4th year = inverted large letter and 4 year patch

Letter is determined by school (We are up to 5 different schools now )

If a student did not join as a freshman they can be bumped up 1 year in the progression for extreme circumstances (excluding 4-year patch).

[ghostmachine360]

CircuitRunners Robotics have varsity letters for the students that make it onto the FRC team; since we consider that our varsity team out of our 3 competition teams.

[S.P.A.M.er]

where did you guys order them from??? I want to buy some for my team in honor of our first World Championship win.

[ghostmachine360]

Originally Posted by S.P.A.M.er

where did you guys order them from??? I want to buy some for my team in honor of our first World Championship win.

We ordered ours from Neff.
http://www.neffco.com/neffco.asp

[lakstick]

The RoboDawgs gave out 18 Varsity letters last year! I'm not sure of the process behind getting our school to allow them, but we do have some pretty strict requirements to earn one.

The honor recognizes team members for their work — an estimated 1,200 to 1,500 hours per year — on various events, including creating for the annual fall autonomous boat race and the FIRST Robotics Competition season. Students also must mentor elementary and middle school FLL or VEX teams and help run an event, like our local FLL or VEX tournament, to earn a letter. Other qualifications: They must maintain a minimum 3.25 grade-point average and demonstrate proficiency in areas including pneumatic systems, digital and analog sensors and motors, transmissions and drive train.

[iPenguin]

Earning a varsity letter on the CircuitRunners is more prestigious than just being on FRC. We have individual requirements that vary a bit year to year, but are all mostly the same. We require letter recipients to:

• attend a competition in both fall and spring semester
• volunteer at either our annual FLL or FTC qualifier
• attain X number of service hours
• attain Y number of fundraising hours
• maintain Z grade point average
• receive 2 letters of recommendation from team officers/mentors

These requirements are set in order to make sure that those team members who receive letters are those who actually deserve them by further aiding and improving the team.

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by BX HANNAH

I know this response is a little late. However, hopefully it's still relevant! Or hopefully you already are getting varsity letters at your school!

Biggest piece of advice, get to know your administrators and make sure they know what FIRST is!

Better late than never, and no, we're not getting letters yet.

Our administration and school board are wildly enthusiastic about FIRST, and our Athletic Director is our founding coach. The opposition is kind of vague, I suspect that it is not wanting to set a precedent for a "non-sport" letter. But as you mention, Band is a sport now?

Originally Posted by sgreco

A sport is "An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others."

Yes, exactly. Which part of that doesn't apply directly to FRC? Activity? Physical exertion? Skill? Compete? I'm not sure your words support your premise.