How do you deal with 60+ new members joining the team?

[Whippet]

Originally Posted by Chief Hedgehog

Does anyone have experience with the VEX Robotics Classroom kits (see here)? Could this be an option for developing a "JV" squad?

We had VEX classroom sets like those (without the field elements) back when we had a robotics class that we used to teach the students the basics of mechanical design. They worked very well for us, and the students from that class went on to become the leaders of our FRC team today. I would definitely recommend the classroom kits for their educational value alone, though I can't comment on the VRC as a whole, since my school hasn't yet decided to enter.

[M.Kong-Sivert]

We use FTC as offseason training, but seniors who have been in FIRST long enough are allowed to use this time for side projects.

I think one of the most important things to do is to keep the new people engaged as much as possible. Here are some suggestions that have worked well for us:

• Start each meeting with a round of Ninja or something similar.
• See if your sponsors would be willing to offer field trips for your team.
• Take the team to an offseason competition. It's great for team bonding, and, even though they didn't build the robot, the rookies will get a glimpse of what a FIRST competition looks like.

[bigbeezy]

We are in the same boat this year. We really pushed to get more exposure at our 2nd high school last year. The result is a massive influx of new members. Last year we peaked at about 60 and finished the year around 45. This year we are about 80. Really like the thoughts and things that other teams have mentioned in this thread. For our past couple meetings we've done team building games and things to get to know everyone. 2 of our veteran students led these and did an outstanding job.

Starting next week we are having new students go though a series of training seminars. We split the 40-50 newbies into 4 groups that will spend time at different stations (2 mechanical, 1 electrical, and 1 outreach). This will last for the next 4 weeks. Hope is to give everyone some a foundation of the basic things that we do. At each station the group will take part in a project building something so that we are still accomplishing tasks and they get hands on experience.

Meanwhile the veterans not hosting the trainings will be working on a variety of other projects. Space is arguably our biggest obstacle. Our shop can't hold everyone in our shop (off campus location) so we are sending some students to one of our high schools that is nearby. Definitely going to be a challenge

[IronicDeadBird]

LAZER TAG!
But seriously its hard to get my team to drop the roles they have and make room for more people after a solid year of getting to be closely knit. Let more people participate so start simple have them be involved with something where making new friends is natural. The main thing is that if you think of the team where one person is a ring and you want all the rings to be more closely knit you adding rings to the outside is less effective at bonding then adding them to the heart of the team.

[The_ShamWOW88]

Man, I wish we had 60+ new students join in one given year. Our team used to have a massive influx of new students year in and out but the program as of the last 4 - 5 years, we've lost more to graduation and such than we've gained.

[gblake]

Cross-linking to a long-ish post I just added to a similar thread.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...45&postcount=5

I am dismayed at how many posters (not all, but many) approach this sort of question from an FRC-only mindset.

Borrow some dynamite and blow yourself out of that rut! The universe of valuable extracurricular (and classroom) STEM programs is sooo much bigger than just FRC.

The vision of the programs is changing the fabrics of entire communities and societies. That involves hundreds of children, and the adults around them. The vision is not having one FRC team in each North American high school.

When you are blessed with an abundance of students, engage them in an abundance of activities offered by an abundance of STEM education organizations!