recruiting advice?

[JaneYoung]

418 just completed a week of recruitment. It was student developed and student driven and was wonderful. (the mentors were involved but the students were the ones who made it happen) The student organizers began by posting information on the team yahoogroup regarding planning meetings. In those meetings they laid out the classes they wanted to visit, their presentations, their team leads, and what their objectives were. They then made arrangements with the administration and teachers involved for classroom visits. For 2 days, team members visited different classes and made a brief presentation about the team and the differents aspects of it. They made sure they attended classes in the Liberal Arts section as well as the Science and Technology section of the school.

That same week we also had Back To School Night and the students had an information table as well as a few of their robots on display. They had a sign up sheet for interested students at their table. Many of the students were overheard telling their parents, 'this is the team that came to my class.' Then on that Thursday, after school, they had an orientation meeting for the new recruits. They set up different stations for the students to visit and ask questions about during the orientation. Again, the stations covered the different aspects of the team and competition. It was a very productive week and the students did an excellent job of introducing the team to their fellow students, their teachers, the parents - the school in general. It is the first time we have ever done anything beyond having a table at the Back To School Night. Very exciting and very successful.

On a side note, I think a benefit that occurred naturally was that the team members who like to focus on the robot were able to gain an appreciation and understanding of the other aspects of team/team development by being involved in the planning and by attending the classes, promoting the team. They saw the bigger picture and presented it.