Mentoring New Team

[Michael Kaurich]

Originally Posted by KC1AJT

Hi Everyone! I've been out of FRC since 2011 and have now found myself in the hot seat. A local teacher applied for and received a NASA grant for a team. However, he's a math teacher with little knowledge of what he's actually taking on. We have a small team (under 10) but I think we can pull it off. The real challenge is going to be getting other mentors on board to teach students different areas of robotics, as I can only do so much. I think other areas such as funding and logistics will work themselves out. I also reached out to my old high school (a local vocational school) and they said they would help any way they could. To me this means (hopefully) machine time and maybe someone to help with some engineering.

I'm hoping I'm not over my head here. Any advice?

If you are looking for another new rookie mentor to talk to... I am your guy!

Our team is in a similar situation down here in Baltimore (NASA rookie grant, about 7 dedicated students, two mentors) we are not school based however. The teacher that applied for the NASA grant seems to have a handle on the school bureaucracy part. Transport, while under 30 mins away, is still something you should look into. Different districts have different rules.