Student Participation Agreement

[Blue_Mist]

As to attendance: we have a small team overall and an even smaller truly dedicated team. However, we do try to recruit and give everyone, veteran and fresh recruit, a packet of forms to fill out and sign every year. We don't have grade or meeting requirements and rely mostly on personal honesty and trust everyone's list of their own priorities.

As to forms: we have a contact and medical, a student/parent expectations form (see below), consent and release forms for the competitions, personal vehicle use forms, the school's medical forms and the school's field trip permission forms for individual trips (competitions, demos, public relations, etc).

This is our team's expectations form.

~Begin Form~

We expect all team members to follow some basic rules of conduct and participation. To indicate your understanding
and acceptance of these expectations, please read each of the following sections, and sign at the end.

Student Expectations

Every student team member agrees to the following:
This is a team.

I will treat other team members with respect.

Many adults support our work. I will treat mentors, parent supervisors, and faculty advisers with respect. I will follow the rules established by these adults.

The tools we use can be dangerous. I will exercise appropriate caution and follow safety procedures when using tools. I will ask for instructions before using tools I am not familiar with.

Any member's actions reflect upon the whole team. I will conduct myself in a responsible and mature manner at all public team events.

We do not have a team bus (yet). I will arrange my own transportation when attending team meetings, competitions, or other team events.

Critical team communications occur via email. I will check my e-mail as regularly as possible for robotics-related purposes.

Parent/Guardian Expectations

The parents of student team members agree to the following:

My son/daughter is joining the M-A Robotics Team. I have read and support what is expected of them (“Student Expectations”).

All families share the responsibility for providing food and supervision. I will try to have my family contribute at least one food or supervision slot during this year's build season.
Parent awareness improves support.

I will keep myself informed, by attending parent meetings and/or reading the email meeting notes.

~End Form~

This has been modified since 2006, and is on one sheet of paper. Putting both the parent and student requirements on a single sheet of paper increases the chances of both sets of expectations being read. We haven't ever had problems with discipline or anything else, so we no longer write out the disciplinary measures if the expectations are not followed.

I'm sorry for being long-winded, but so is the list of forms. Luckily these forms only need to be filled out once a year. A necessary evil, as my friend (Co-President, so I guess that's what one of the Co-Presidents must do) and her mom (who deal with the paperwork) put it.