Student Expectations for Travel

[MrTechCenter]

A great system that worked for us for meals at competition:

Breakfast: If the hotel offers breakfast, eat there. Otherwise it's a good idea to go to Costco and buy a whole lot of muffins, croissants, fruit, and Sunny D bottles and just have a quick but good breakfast in a hotel room (just keep it clean) before heading to the competition.

Lunch: For lunch, an adult chaperone would collect $3 from everybody and go and get lunch from a fast food place nearby and bring it back so we could eat it outside the competition venue (because they often don't let you eat inside). This makes it quick and easy and maximizes the amount of time that students can be working and preparing at the competition because they don't have to go out and get lunch and come back.

Dinner: We would all go to a local shopping center. From there, everyone is free to go to any place in the shopping center to have dinner. This works very well because it allows everyone to eat whatever they want and with their group of friends and it's easy to keep track of students.


As far as hotel etiquette goes....we aren't really the ones to give advice.

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by SarahBeth

What are pepperoni rolls?

You wound me. Pepperoni rolls are essentially pizza toppings (in this case, pepperoni and cheese, a bit of sauce - depends on the local pizza place that makes them) put on bread dough, rolled into a sub-sized roll, and baked. Sometimes the pizza shop offers different fillings - sausage, hot pepper, etc. Quite tasty.

And I'm not sure that we could sell food as a fundraiser only because MA has become really stringent with the healthy eating intuitive (all the lunch rules and stuff changed this year too) and we're not allowed to sell candy bars or anything like that in the building due to the rules.

Did the government ban pizza in Massachusetts?

If so, you could always fill the innards with healthy flavor-infused tofu and bean sprouts!

I bet some places would sell veggie/white pizza style rolls.

I do love the idea of the kids earning extra spending money for trips though - thats kind of a cool incentive for fundraising.

Indeed. Everyone seems to really appreciate the program, including the students' parents.

[SarahBeth]

Originally Posted by Travis Hoffman

You wound me. Pepperoni rolls are essentially pizza toppings (in this case, pepperoni and cheese, a bit of sauce - depends on the local pizza place that makes them) put on bread dough, rolled into a sub-sized bun, and baked. Sometimes the pizza shop offers different fillings - sausage, hot pepper, etc. Quite tasty.

Oh, I see! Those sound kind of amazing. Do you get a local place to donate them? How do you do profit-wise on them?

Did the government ban pizza in Massachusetts?

If so, you could always fill the innards with healthy flavor-infused tofu and bean sprouts!

LOL, no, but I'm not sure our administration would let us do it in building, that's all. Then again, you never know until you ask.

Indeed. Everyone seems to really appreciate the program, including the students' parents.

It definitely sounds like it goes over well! We might have to investigate to see if we can do something like this with our kids as we've been talking about possibly giving the students an incentive to fundraise other then seeing our lead mentor in a skirt at competition. (Its happened)

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by SarahBeth

Oh, I see! Those sound kind of amazing. Do you get a local place to donate them? How do you do profit-wise on them?

Yes, a local place makes them for us (it's a very common fundraiser in these here parts) and sells them cheap enough that we can make a profit of about $1.25 or so per roll for the price we charge. This fundraiser is not meant to make mad money for the team - mainly fund student spending money.

[Koko Ed]

I remember a quote out late team founder Gene Wicks made to our kids before going to champs years ago regarding taping kids in their room and such.
"If we have to do such things to keep you in line, we're not taking you."

[BrendanB]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

I remember a quote out late team founder Gene Wicks made to our kids before going to champs years ago regarding taping kids in their room and such.
"If we have to do such things to keep you in line, we're not taking you."

^This!

Regarding taping doors if you want it to be effective put the tape on after student curfew, don't put it on obviously, and take it off/check before morning curfew. Also when dividing up the rooms, don't put all of your problem children/most likely to cause issues in one room.

With regard to cell phones, I would advise not taking them away from students. If a parent were to find out that on a school trip students weren't allowed to have cell phones on them I don't see that going over well. What if there is an emergency, a parent wants to have contact with their student, or contact among members regarding important team function at the event. It is hard to keep everyone busy and entertained 100% of the time but you need to set a standard that playing games is not acceptable during competition.

Money for trips is hard especially when students don't have a job. During a trip meeting with both students and their parents we said to plan for $10 per meal and a few extra dollars for snacks. We have had some problems with students running low after a long weekend so I and a few other parents and mentors have loaned students money on trips. Part of your problem could be making sure the parents are aware of how much their child needs in advance. For all they know, breakfast, lunch and dinner are covered by the team/event so they only give money for snacks. Parent education is key for trips!

A tip for dealing with meals. We had an issue this year where after collecting the tab for our meal ended in a huge difference between what people gave for their meal+tip and the total. In the future we plan to keep one of the menus along with a notebook and go around writing down what each student ordered and calculate the tip so every person knows exactly what they owe. Splitting up $600 tabs is not easy!

For down time in the hotel we encourage students to hang out in common areas and not in their rooms (no girls in guys rooms and vice versa).

[SarahBeth]

A tip for dealing with meals. We had an issue this year where after collecting the tab for our meal ended in a huge difference between what people gave for their meal+tip and the total. In the future we plan to keep one of the menus along with a notebook and go around writing down what each student ordered and calculate the tip so every person knows exactly what they owe. Splitting up $600 tabs is not easy!

This is an EXCELLENT idea. Thank you!

Our kids are generally really good about curfew and staying in their rooms at night because they're exhausted from competition (we're doing something right!) so taping doors isn't an issue.

We do plan on having a parent/student meeting perhaps in December or RIGHT at the beginning of build season to lay down expectations for the build season, travel, etc. Will probably have another one before we go to our first competition. I feel like some of that will help with the students having enough money for meals issue.

[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by SarahBeth

...no closed doors if there are members of both sexes in a room.

Why bother? There's no better way to demonstrate that you don't trust your students' judgment than to make them feel like you're always watching.¹

Even if the rule works as intended, it's still of limited value. Firstly, it doesn't take much imagination to realize that there's all kinds of trouble they could get into with members of the same sex. Secondly, they could just close the door, and do whatever you don't want them doing—after all, once they're committed to breaking the rules, why would they let a little thing like a door get in their way?

¹ If you really need to check on them, do it with panache, and burst in on them inquisition-style.

[SarahBeth]

Originally Posted by Tristan Lall

Why bother? There's no better way to demonstrate that you don't trust your students' judgment than to make them feel like you're always watching.¹

Even if the rule works as intended, it's still of limited value. Firstly, it doesn't take much imagination to realize that there's all kinds of trouble they could get into with members of the same sex. Secondly, they could just close the door, and do whatever you don't want them doing—after all, once they're committed to breaking the rules, why would they let a little thing like a door get in their way?

¹ If you really need to check on them, do it with panache, and burst in on them inquisition-style.

The open door policy for members of both sexes in the same room isn't a FIRST team rule, its a school rule.

Also, that video is fantastic. That may have to be uh, tried at curfew check in at some point.

[Jimmy Nichols]

Here is a snapshot from our team handbook and our travel policies. Most are ours, but there are a couple that are stright from the School Handbook.

1. All students are to adhere to the Lakota Schools Student Conduct Handbook.
2. Curfew Hours and quiet hours for hotel will be 11:00 pm unless specifically noted at the nightly team meeting.
3. Keep in mind that we are not the only guests at the hotel. When in common areas, keep the noise to a minimum. Reports of complaints will result in the curfew being pushed up.
4. Promptness and attendance is required to ensure that the team is on time and on schedule.
5. BOARD POLICY ON POSSESSION AND OR USE OF ILLEGAL SUBSTANCES: Any student not following board policy on possession or use of illegal substances will have parents contacted and will be sent home immediately at the parents expense.
6. BOARD POLICY ON POSSESSION AND OR USE OF WEAPONS OR WEAPON-LIKE OBJECTS. Any student not following board policy on possession and or use of weapons or weapon-like objects will have parents contacted and will be sent home immediately at parent’s expense.
7. BOARD POLICY ON DESTRUCTION, THEFT, OR ABUSE OF PROPERTY. Please see attached board policy documents. Any student not following board policy will be held accountable for the cost or repair of any member’s personal property. The students and parents will be held accountable for any legal charges incurred because of destruction, theft or abuse of property. Student’s parents will be contacted and that contact information will be given to any authorities involved in the incident. Theft within a public area (amusement park, hotel, restaurant, etc.) will be turned over to the authorities.
8. LANGUAGE AND ATTITUDE: All students will present themselves as an ambassador of Lakota School District and Lakota Robotics Team Sponsors. Students will refrain from lewd or offensive language and remember to treat all participants, drivers, chaperones, directors, and tour adults with full respect. Students not following this policy will contact parents (with a mentor) and explain their actions. Students continuing inappropriate language or attitude unbecoming of a Lakota Robotics Team Member may be sent home at the parents expense and/or removed from the team.
9. DRESS POLICY: At all times at the competition the team uniform for the current year must be worn. This is not only for Team Spirit, but safety as well. Jackets, coats, hoodies are not to be worn over the team uniform. Should these be necessary, it is preferred that a white long sleeve shirt be worn under the team uniform.
10. Male/Female: At no time shall a member be present or enter the room of the opposite sex.
11. At no time shall a member be present or enter the room of another team.
12. Food and drinks are permitted on the bus, but our team policy of leaving a place better than we left it is in full affect. At no time should any trash be left on the bus. There will be trash bags and paper towels available for clean up. Should an accident occur, notify a mentor or chaperone so that appropriate action can be taken.
13. You will not permitted to go home with parents after riding the bus to an event, unless they give specific written permission, before the trip, to the team.
14. At no times should a team member leave the competition venue or hotel without a mentor or chaperone. When walking around the venue or hotel, please practice the buddy system and never go anywhere alone!

[Gary Dillard]

SPAM had a rule (I don't remember if it was official or unofficial) that if you were late for one of the team meetings or if the bus had to wait for you, you became a member of the laundry crew. The team would collect and wash team t-shirts Friday night (Thursday they wear a different shirt) and the students had to collect, wash, dry, fold, and distribute them. It gave enough incentive to make everyone on time.

[Jimmy Nichols]

Originally Posted by Gary Dillard

SPAM had a rule (I don't remember if it was official or unofficial) that if you were late for one of the team meetings or if the bus had to wait for you, you became a member of the laundry crew. The team would collect and wash team t-shirts Friday night (Thursday they wear a different shirt) and the students had to collect, wash, dry, fold, and distribute them. It gave enough incentive to make everyone on time.

Our former team leader it also a triathelete/iron manner. So if you were late for the bus, you had to walk to the venue with him and keep up with his pace. We usually stayed further out for cost reason.

[RoboMom]

Might be some hints in the papers under "travel". These were compiled some years ago now, but much of the info is still relevant. http://www.firstnemo.org/resources.htm

[SarahBeth]

Originally Posted by RoboMom

Might be some hints in the papers under "travel". These were compiled some years ago now, but much of the info is still relevant. http://www.firstnemo.org/resources.htm

Thank you! I will definitely take a look!

Jimmy, thank you for your list as well!

[funstuff]

As a mentor for a rookie team last year, the mentors (including alumni from 4 FRC teams) implemented travel rules that expanded on the sponsoring organization's rules (4H). As we have no direct school association, we do not have to include school travel rules. The rules ended up being a bit too extensive but could have been enforced a bit better.

Students were assigned rooms and rides during the trip and had to follow these rules:

1. All students must remain in locations and areas designated for the trip.
2. Students must attend all scheduled events (unless specified by the mentors or chaperones).
3. All students must travel by designated transportation (unless otherwise specified). Appropriate behavior on all modes of transportation is essential.
4. Students must obey all curfews and remain in their rooms after curfew.
5. Students must report to their designated chaperone when requested.
6. Luggage, rooms and personal possessions will be subject to search by chaperones.
7. If any student is in a room that is not his/hers, there has to be an adult (25+) supervisor.
8. Students can only be in areas authorized by their chaperone at any time.

Basically, we gave the chaperones (parents, not including the head mentor) the flexibility to determine how strict or loose to manage the students, as this was the first year the team traveled. Each chaperone was assigned 4-5 students to keep track of at competition. Fortunately, many of the students were totally exhausted by the end of each day of competition, so we had few behavior/curfew issues.


Additionally, I found it necessary produce a list of rules for the head mentor to follow while at competition. Some of the gems that earned exasperated sighs and eye rolls as he read the list include:

1. Have your cell phone turned ON, charged, and on YOU at all times.
2. Answer your phone when someone calls you.
3. Eat food during each meal and get at least 3 hours of sleep a night.
4. Try to be somewhat responsible and a role model.
5. Do NOT use duct tape at any time in any manner.
6. Do NOT obtain, fabricate, carry, or use any zombie defense weapons of any sort including projectile launchers/shooters, blunt objects, sharp objects, etc.
7. Do NOT get upset with your offspring.

He later tried to collaborate with other mentors to find loopholes to a number of the rules, particularly the one regarding zombie defense weapons.

-Kat