Petition to start things that inform, inspire, educate and de-confuse the public

[MamaSpoldi]

As one of those stressed out mentors, sometimes I am distracted especially in the pits. But all it takes is the sight of a child walking through to get our team smiling and moving. We keep aside special treats for the younger kids to make sure we still have some by the end of each day including our buttons, wristbands, and our robot heads. The little kids really like them and the parents appreciate that we are reaching out to make the day a little more special for their child. It also encourages the shyer kids to ask a few questions. As long as we do not have maintenance going on with our robot at the moment I encourage the kids to come closer and look at the mechanisms up close... and even touch them. It is awesome to see how their eyes light up when they see how the robots are made. Sometimes all it takes is a moment of your time to effect a change.

I agree that it is even more helpful to do this in the stands when you see new people coming in without a clear team affiliation. If I am sitting near these people in the stands I like to offer to share some explanations with them. But often the saving of seats preclude them even finding a place to sit.

Originally Posted by EricH

Phase 1: Do not reserve seats exclusively for team members. If there's an empty seat, it's open, we'll move stuff as needed. (BTW, whoever put up those "We don't save seats, come sit down" signs at the entrances to the center section of L.A. seating, I want to thank you--regardless of if you're on my team or not.)

This sign is such an awesome idea I want to have them printed and placed in every section of the arena at every event. It can be very intimidating to take seats in the middle of a team even if they appear to be willing to let you sit with them. A sign stating clearly that you are WELCOME can make the difference.

This thread is a great idea! I think we can all do a little better with just a little bit of effort.

[GreyingJay]

Originally Posted by MamaSpoldi

This thread is a great idea! I think we can all do a little better with just a little bit of effort.

Yes, I love that this thread is full of practical, easily achievable ideas that will go a long way. It's not difficult to do, we just need to be a little more intentional in how we teach our students. And it's not like the students aren't willing or able to do these things already -- they just sometimes need to be reminded to make it a priority focus rather than an afterthought.

I volunteer with a summer camp in the FRC off-season (or is it that I do FRC in my camp off-season?) and one of the things I work on is training staff to establish a similar culture among the kids there. We say things like "camp is a great place to make friends!" but then we shove our kids into the environment and say "Ok, so go make friends!" without ever actually stopping to teach them HOW to do it. The shy and introverted kids might not actually know how. We need to teach them and give them opportunities to practice in a safe, fun, non-judging environment.