Mentor Envolvment

[BillP]

Just wanted to say:
1) I agree with everything RoboMom says (very well said!)

2) The degree to which Mentors should be involved with any activity of the team depends to a great deal on the team. That is to say, if you have a rookie team, mentors will probably end up doing more, if you have a veteran team with many returning members, you will do less.

The bottom line is to look at our role as mentors and try to fit our involvement into what is best for the kids. Personally, I feel that my role is to teach the kids everything that FIRST represents and, more importantly, to get them to ACT in accordance with the spirit of "gracious professionalism".

As a mentor, I do not stress that the team must succeed. I try to stress the activities and actions that will help the team succeed.

Don't know if that answers the question (probably not), just giving you the guidelines that I try to work within.

Good Luck!

[Rich Kressly]

All excellent points here. Remember to include students as much as possible. When I was with 103, we used to meet with the core student group that worked on the submission, looked at the previous year's entry, mapped out the ideas/structure with them, and let the kids run. Then we'd check in periodically and provide guidance and editing help.

In my experience, an incredible thing happens over time with this entry and the students. Students become more acutely aware of the team and its community impact when they are involved in the CA process. This filters out to other students on the team, gives them all a stronger sense of the big picture, helps to drive team growth, and gets us all closer to achieving the true goals of FIRST. Now that's what I call a "Champion" no matter what the outcome of the award entry is.