Student lettering in FRC

[Ravage457]

Hello Chief Delphi Community

I know thier is a thread about how some teams were able to get their respected schools to allow the robotics team to get varsity letterman jackets and if anyone has a link to them please post them here.

I was also wondering how do some teams set thier requirements for thier students to recieve the letterman jackets. Do some teams do a point system, or a certain requirements like attend a number of regional events

So my question is, what requirements do teams use to determine who gets a letterman?

[MARS_James]

None of our schools allow for letterman jackets to any group who is not a sports team (our rugby team doesn't get them cause they are a "club") so we do not get them.

This being said we made them ourselves with our team colors, our logo, their name, and graduating year

You do not get them until the end of your senior year as a last present from the team and you qualify in several ways:

1. Be a team member for 4 years
2. Achieve a leadership position on the team
3. Be a member of the field team
4. Be a First (Last year we had a rookie from a school who was a senior thus she was the first graduate from the school on our team)
5. A vote of the alumni for if you have received enough merit in your time to receive the honor.

[dcarr]

Because we are a younger team, our requirements are not quite as stringent...you can see them in our handbook here in the Varsity section.

[Jon Stratis]

We have a list of requirements... unfortunately, I don't have it in front of me right now, though. It's basically centered around the goals of the team:
- attend a certain % of meetings (for the build team, this applies during build season. For PR, it's all year)
- Attend our competitions (there's some wiggle room in there for attending off-season versus regional events, for those students with unavoidable scheduling conflicts)
- Participate in our outreach and fundraising events (this goes towards our Chairman's efforts)
- Be a member for at least 2 years (We want to see continuity, as students are typically much more prepared and skilled after they've completed a season)
- distinguish yourself on the team (we have a number of leadership positions available, as well as positions with additional responsibilities for students to take on, all outlined in the handbook)
- Attend all required meetings (kickoff, recruitment meetings, end of the year clean up day, etc)

Basically, everything is designed to help the team run smoothly, constantly improve, and increase our ability to achieve our team goals. It's also something that active participant who is excited about the team will achieve without even thinking about it. I don't think we've had any student really pay attention to these rules, and almost all of them have earned a letter after 2 years in.

[MARS_James]

I realize now that the list I posted could be read as you have to do all the things you only need to do one of the 5 to qualify

[FrankJ]

We are registered at our school as a competitive academic team. Makes us eligible for Letters. A club would not be. The point of the school is to educate. Not to be able to letter in an academic competition is just silly. If your school does allow it they need to be sold on the idea STEM. Which is one of the missions of the FIRST team to begin with.

Anyway here is our letting requirements

Walton Robotics Lettering Program

In order to letter this year, students must have:

75 hours of participation
20 hours of community service
5 hours of community outreach
2 community outreach events
1 business event
Safety Training
3 other training sessions
Attendance at a regional competition
Recommendation from the team coach

I do not have anything to with it. I am just the robot mentor.

[Ravage457]

Hmmm i see....im trying to help our team manger (Lead Teacher) to convince our school to allow our students to recieve letterman jackets, just as the school Drama club recieve them and we can also use it to encourage our kids

thanks for the advice, and please any other teams that recieve letterman jackets, please feel free to give your input, all the help is appreciated

Also do some teams do a point system or merit base system to determine who gets to go to the regionals and championship travel team?

[MARS_James]

Originally Posted by Ravage457

Also do some teams do a point system or merit base system to determine who gets to go to the regionals and championship travel team?

If you make 50% of Build Season meeting times, and do not receive any reprimands from leadership or mentors than you get to go. Though if we stay in a hotel the students have to split the costs.

[Jon Stratis]

Originally Posted by Ravage457

Also do some teams do a point system or merit base system to determine who gets to go to the regionals and championship travel team?

Yes. Ours is based on attendance - the attendance requirement for lettering is higher, though. Also, there are different attendance requirements for build versus PR, due to the different schedules the two parts of the team are on (although there is some overlap). A student on the build team can "make up" excused time missed through participation on the PR team as well.

[Ravage457]

Originally Posted by Jon Stratis

Yes. Ours is based on attendance - the attendance requirement for lettering is higher, though. Also, there are different attendance requirements for build versus PR, due to the different schedules the two parts of the team are on (although there is some overlap). A student on the build team can "make up" excused time missed through participation on the PR team as well.

If i may ask what is your teams requirement to letter?

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Ravage457

If i may ask what is your teams requirement to letter?

Already answered.

Originally Posted by Jon Stratis

We have a list of requirements... unfortunately, I don't have it in front of me right now, though. It's basically centered around the goals of the team:
- attend a certain % of meetings (for the build team, this applies during build season. For PR, it's all year)
- Attend our competitions (there's some wiggle room in there for attending off-season versus regional events, for those students with unavoidable scheduling conflicts)
- Participate in our outreach and fundraising events (this goes towards our Chairman's efforts)
- Be a member for at least 2 years (We want to see continuity, as students are typically much more prepared and skilled after they've completed a season)
- distinguish yourself on the team (we have a number of leadership positions available, as well as positions with additional responsibilities for students to take on, all outlined in the handbook)
- Attend all required meetings (kickoff, recruitment meetings, end of the year clean up day, etc)

[Ravage457]

Originally Posted by EricH

Already answered.

My apologies, thank you for the advice and input. And if other team out thier also do a merit or point system, or have requirements for letterman jackets and to be part of the travel team, please give your input, i greatly appreciate all the input and advice from everyone

[RoboMom]

Originally Posted by RoboMom

Visit http://www.firstnemo.org/resources.htm for the latest resource paper.
"Thinking about Varsity Letters for your Robotics Team?"

Thanks to all who contributed in this thread and over the years on this topic. The goal was to just create a one-page document directing people to all the legwork already done by teams.

Laurie is quoted in this article. More robotics teams than varsity hockey teams in MN!
http://www.startribune.com/local/188507421.html

[dcarr]

Originally Posted by RoboMom

Laurie is quoted in this article. More robotics teams than varsity hockey teams in MN!
http://www.startribune.com/local/188507421.html

Great article! Good for MN. Surprising that FIRST is not mentioned anywhere in the piece - a major oversight.

Personally, the use of the term 'kit' in articles written for the general public bothers me as I feel it misrepresents and undermines the design and build process that teams go through. I feel like FIRST should rename the KoP especially as it's evolving into basically a customized ordering process.

[Graciebot]

We had to apply for it through our school, and were only successful after we convinced the athletics/administration that we put in as much work and dedication, if not more, than any varsity sports team. As for the actual process, we just shot an email to the principal and copied the athletic director, and they told us what we needed to do. We also had to demonstrate that we had requirements for participants that parallel those of varsity sports- GPA requirements, attendance, etc. and send that document to the administration. We were finally granted varsity letters this past fall and we only award them on the FRC level.