Hosting A FRC Team @ A Middle School

[Kimmeh]

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

That being said, I think these students got it in a way I'd never seen before. They added a lot of value to the team and I'm glad we gave them the chance. Probably wouldn't do it again though, simply put, I think that most of these students would have been better served by competing in FTC or VEX as it would have given them more chances to iterate which is important at that age.

Confirming a confirmation...I agree with Andrew when he says that the younger kids add value to a team. My high school team had 5th graders (considered to be middle school in my district) on the team for two consecutive years. (One only did the year, the other was our lead mentor's daughter. Also at the time, we didn't have any program in place in the district for them.*) They brought a unique element to design, as they saw the world in a totally different light than the high schoolers or the adult mentors. It's similar to the jokes that ask how do you put an elephant in to a refrigerator?


You open the door and put the elephant in.

How do you put a giraffe in a refrigerator?
You open the door, take the elephant out and put the giraffe in. (Duh!)


A pre-schooler or a kindergartener will get this right more often than not. An adult however is baffled.





*Not saying I completely agree with them being on the team, but it wasn't my call, they learned a lot, made the team better, and safeguards were in place so they wouldn't be harmed.

[Katie_UPS]

Just remember safety and logistics. Will parents be okay with their 12 year old using x, y, and z tools/can they use them safely? Will they need constant supervision at events or will they be allowed to roam freely?

My experience with middle schoolers through FLL make me think the answers would be no, but its up to whomever is starting the team to determine if that is enough to shut down the idea.

[Alexa Stott]

I don't think having middle school (in my school district, that was 6-8 grade) students on the team is an issue. I just think having a team run entirely by middle schoolers is risky in a number of ways that I've previously stated.