Shelf Life Of A Team

[kmcclary]

Originally Posted by Vin211

Answer the age old question about your team! How long do you think your team is designed to last? How many seasons before it decides no more?

I've always believed in the following for a team to remain strong:
Financial Stability (A sound sponsor)
Support from Teachers
Support from Students
Support from Past Team Members
Support from Engineers / Adults willing to help
Support from your town or city

Well, there are two distinct questions here: "How long will it last", and "What does it take to keep it going", and we seem to be concentrating more on the latter.

I've now started two FIRST teams over the last couple of years, at two different high schools.

Startup, and maintenance of a team are separate questions. How long will it last once it is GOING is merely keeping enough will, manpower (both student and adult), space, tools, materials and financial resources for fees and travel supplied to the team, regardless of source.

There are several key elements that are IMHO VITAL to keep a team running:
1) TOP school administrative support. Without that, it runs the risk of dying at any time. My experience has shown that it is IMPERATIVE that support this comes from the top down, not the middle up. The Principal MUST be on board, AND supportive, or the politics will complicate this effort immensely and it'll be a constant struggle.
2) A "Product Champion" driving this effort, whether teacher or engineer doesn't matter. SOME adult MUST be "the force" behind this, or it'll stagnate and die.
3) At least ONE "super teacher advisor" or other admin contact that will take the group under their wing in the school. This CAN be the Product Champion, but that's a LOT of work. It often works better if the Product Champion and the Primary Teacher are separate, so one can handle school side, and the other handle team side issues. In addition, building at a school often require MULTIPLE teachers for supervision, so if they're NOT the driving force, having more than one that can "take turns" supervising the build is vital. We have TWO main teachers for our team, and that's still not enough.
4) A "core" of supporting adults, from industry and/or parents. We even have a separate "Parent's Auxiliary", that have been FANTASTIC supporters! If you don't yet have one, START one!
5) A "core" of interested students (Hey, after all, it's all about THEM!) The whole thing is pointless if they just don't WANT this program, and would rather play Nintendo, other sports, or watch TV...
6) Some way to at least pay for the Kit of Parts, travel costs for one contest, and enough for materials to complete a robot. One or more industry "Big Daddies" makes things MUCH easier, but I've been very impressed and amazed to see teams without local industry support that still do it on their own out of sheer hard work, willpower, on nickels and dime fundraisers. (I bow to you...) We depend on our industry support primarily for the big fees, engineers, and things like corporate travel discounts, and try to raise our own robot materials and travel costs with local efforts.
7) A stable place to build, with tools. Can be at a sponsor, the school, or in someone's garage/basement.

Lose any ONE of these, and you're probably toast.

IMHO ideally the program runs BEST as a "mentor / apprentice" relationship with industry partners and an industry side Product Champion, but it has been shown it CAN be run under a "teacher / student / local fundraising" model instead. IMO the latter is MUCH more painful, and you may not get the full benefit of the program because I feel what we're trying to do is "model a six week standard industrial design cycle" to them. I feel that's best done with mentors who "do it for a living" every day.

If a team goes inactive for more than the students' lifespan at the school (typically 3-4 years) though, you're definitely back to square one, requiring a fresh startup. And believe me, STARTING a team from scratch takes a LOT more effort than keeping one running!

For example, my first team took three years of groundwork on my part, another of active team forming to launch it, and required a LOT of support from other local teams (robot demos, etc.) for the school system to "get it". (THANKS AGAIN TEAMS 66, 470, 494, and the rest!!!)

Based on what I learned, I got the second one up and "limping" in only one year (and it still needed robot demo support from other teams), but I have a four year "buildup plan" to complete before I feel it'll be anywhere near what I would call a "stable" situation. There are NO shop facilities at my current school, so in addition to forming the team, I've also found myself in the position of pulling in the resources over time to enable the school to "recreate" an ENTIRE industrial arts program at the school (wood, metal, AND welding) from scratch JUST to support the team. Last year we built our robot in a basement primarily with students, engineers, parents, borrowed tools, and school supervision (for insurance purposes). In the off season, I've managed to scrounge up the beginnings of metal working tools for the school (mill, lathe, & welder, none of which are in place YET but are literally days from delivery), so this will be the first year we work IN the school. It'll still require a lot of "borrowed tools" and special volunteers like weldors (people who weld) and machinists to work with the kids to help them RUN the machines until we can flesh out the missing tools and train school personnel in their proper use. So to put it mildly, "it'll be another interesting season"... On the school side, they've promised to start developing classes to use whatever major tools I bring in, so we're on our way!

BTW, I was approached yesterday by the administration with the suggestion that we're now far enough along to try offering Robotics I & II as CLASSES starting next year (anyone with a school that DOES have a FIRST Robotics curriculum, PLEASE email me directly with course material suggestions!), so the FIRST team is DEFINITELY having a STRONG impact on this school!

Therefore, my BEST suggestion for making the team have a LARGE shelf life is to "work with the administration to make FIRST related technology an integral part of your curriculum". Once THAT is established, you'll not only have commitment from the administration insuring longevity, you'll also have a FEEDER system to create students raring go go, that'll WISH to be on the team. We're also working on establishing the FIRST team under the school's "sports team" model, where FIRST becomes a letter sport. We are also planning on HOSTING a "repeat" contest this year, which will also create a new "prestige enhancing tradition" for the school.

Bottom line: ALL of this groundwork is totally aimed at making the team a solid part of the school. I can't emphasize that enough! Intertwine it into the school's CULTURE, and you'll NEVER have to worry about it dying. Leave it as an OUTSIDE ACTIVITY ("club based, externally financed"), and you'll ALWAYS have to worry about whether it'll be back next year or not. You'll be at the mercy of an external workforce and market conditions potentially ripping your sponsors out from under you. I estimate it'll take about four years before our shop will be completely running to my satisfaction, the curriculum fully established, letter jackets issued, and our local contest established. But once THAT happens, I feel our team's "shelf life" will be HUGE, and I'll NEVER have to worry about it going away. The SCHOOL will become the force insuring the team's survival, and will do whatever is necessary to maintain industry ties and/or insure financing.

- Keith