EXAMS

[BandChick]

Our team has exams mid-build every year. They are this coming week for our kids, actually. The general rule of thumb is a) we don't meet until 2:30 (school gets out at 12 during exam week) b) everyone goes home by 5:15 latest. This gives the kids ample time to get in PLENTY of studying. School HAS to come first, and it's something we always strive to focus on.

[fluffy]

our school is on trimesters, so our exams start the week after the build season is over. we get to go from one stressfull time(the ship date) to exams. how lovely

[GaryVoshol]

Originally Posted by burkey_turkey

i wonder if first would want to consider pushing back kickoff 2 or 3 weeks or so to avoid conflict with exams.

If FIRST changed the schedule to make kickoff later, after exams, it would push the competitions out into May and start interfering with AP exams. Unless you mean you want only a 4 or 3 week build period!

[dancingfool]

We had our exams this past week and the meetings were optional instead of mandatory as usual. Most of the team showed up anyway and during any "downtime" we got out our books and studied.

[burkey_turkey]

our exams just started. it was so hard to take the physics exam right next to the shop. i was itching to go inside and work some the entire time, i couldnt focus on the test. luckily we have a meeting tomorrow so all the parts that have been coming in during the off time can be put to use.

[Andrew1742]

Many oklahoma teams lost at least a week of build time due to inclimate weather, and some even went without power for a week or more.
Shipping hassles and icy roads set us back 7 days, but we were lucky enough to atleast be at home with the heater and tv on.

[JudyVandy]

Our first year as a 'home town' team, rather than a commute to team, where we were on the road for 4 hours per day, was a year of snow storm after snow storm. I think we lost almost a third of our build days that year. We pulled it off, and built a robot!

Exams are an issue. We continue to meet, telling kids to be there when they can and let their adult school mentors know when they need to prep for exams and they're excused. We're a five school team, different schools have slightly different schedules, so there's never a day when nobody's there, but some days the student population is thin. Saturdays are always full!

Weather is usually an issue, too. So far this year, we've been lucky!

[dtape]

Yes, we also have mid-terms in the middle of build season and we always lose hours during this week long period