"18 Hints for Rookie Teams"

[RoboMom]

NEMO (Non-Engineering Mentor Organization) put together this one-page (front and back) handout to help rookie teams. It is posted in the white pages. It can also be used as an agenda for discussions or workshops held at kick-offs or pre-season meetings.
NEMO ran out of room so is now working on "More Hints" Stay tuned!

NEMO was set up as a forum through Chief Delphi in May 2004. It is open to ADULTS who help with all the non-engineering details of running a FIRST team.

[Franchesca]

Wow thank you a whole bunch! There's a team getting started in a high school relatively close to ours and I think that the guy who is working on starting the team will really appreciate this. I'll forward the message!

Thanks for all the good tips and for keeping in mind the rookie teams!

[Rich Wong]

It's GREAT! It's useful. It's short and concise.

Thanks for posting it NEMO,
especially to
Jenny-007, Rich-103, Kathie-173, Steve-188, Ed-191, Jason-237, Mark-358, ustin-1212.

Can't wait for more.

[phrontist]

Non-Engineering Mentors? Aren't all mentors at least partially concerned with SOME type of engineering/science...

[IMDWalrus]

Originally Posted by phrontist

Non-Engineering Mentors? Aren't all mentors at least partially concerned with SOME type of engineering/science...

In a word, no.

Looking at my team...we have engineers from GM, and we have a few math teachers, including two from the district's math and science center. But we've also got parents that serve as mentors, as well as an English teacher.

The majority of FIRST mentors might be involved in science or engineering, but they all aren't.

[Beth Sweet]

Originally Posted by phrontist

Non-Engineering Mentors? Aren't all mentors at least partially concerned with SOME type of engineering/science...

I am a journalism major who got a (very generous) D in physics. I just started up a whole new team at MSU. I don't understand or enjoy studying science, but I love to see all of the things that it can do!

[greencactus3]

well all we had was one woods teacher... and well, now hes gone.. not sure if we re gonna continue our team next year...

[Mike AA]

Originally Posted by greencactus3

well all we had was one woods teacher... and well, now hes gone.. not sure if we re gonna continue our team next year...

Did I just see that line? I hope you have a team next year. FIRST isn't supposed to lose teams, we're supposed to add teams and high schools!

-Mike

[Jay H 237]

Originally Posted by greencactus3

well all we had was one woods teacher... and well, now hes gone.. not sure if we re gonna continue our team next year...

Technically this is next year. Nows the time to look for other teachers to be involved before the six weeks start.
The woods teacher at our high school is the one who started the team in '98 and he continues to be involved to this day. We had another teacher who was involved for six years and decided last year that it was enough although she continues to help out a little behind the scenes. The students are now looking to get other teachers involved. Due to school rules a teacher has to be present any time we meet at the school. This could be after school or on weekends. We stress that the teachers don't have to be involved every day of the week, we understand that some have other interests or obligations. We try to get several involved so they could pick different nights or different times on the weekends so the burden isn't put on one or two.

Originally Posted by Mike AA

Did I just see that line? I hope you have a team next year. FIRST isn't supposed to lose teams, we're supposed to add teams and high schools!
-Mike

I hope they don't lose their team either. It would be great if we could continue to add teams and FIRST will in general but in some instances (reality) it's not feasible or even possible. I know of a school locally that some students were trying to start a team but there were two main things against them, lack of enough interest from students and not enough industry/businesses to easily support them (fundraising). Not to steal Jessica Boucher's sig but we're located in the northwest corner of Connecticut and it's a rural area. Between teams 38, 237, and 716, which are located within an hour of each other, in reality there's not much left over to support another team. Plus alot of businesses that were in this area have moved out in the last several years putting a bigger burden on the three teams to find support.

[Barry Bonzack]

I'd also like to extend great gratitude to FIRST NEMO for these whitepapers. Being on a rookie team is not easy, and starting a team is significantly more difficult. I'd especially like to thank Robomom007 and KathieK for all the help and advice they have given me thus far in my efforts to start a team at my school, and they continually are willing to lend a helping hand. Organizations like NEMO show the true spirit of FIRST, and I am grateful for all the help so far from them, and everyone else that have lent advice. I look forward to next 18 tips, and am very willing to accept help from anyone else wanting to lend it.

a big THANKS to all,
Barry B.

[KathieK]

You are very welcome from all of us who are part of NEMO. We recognized that FIRST teams share a lot of common themes and that a lot of us are dealing with the non-engineering aspects such as travel, food, team spirit, team organization, chairman's award submission, to name just a few! Cheryl, Jenny and I were PMing through CD alomst daily and realized that we needed a forum for other like us who may not be touching the robot in any way, but who are dealing with critical issues that may a team function well. We've been able to share great ideas and welcome any other NEMOs like us to PM us and we'll be glad to get you hooked up!