Lettering in FIRST

[bsbllpss]

sweet. that is really good advice
if we set up a criteria for getting our letters it should be much easier
i will arrange for an appointment with our schools headmaster as soon as possible

[Kelly]

I'm curious about why getting a letter is so important. I liked FIRST because it wasn't a sport and because my team operated so much differently than a sports team would. Athletes need their varsity letters so they can make themselves feel like beautiful unique snowflakes or what have you. Giving letters in FIRST would force you to enumerate everyone's indivdual contributions rather than focusing on the robot that the whole team built. When I'm less tired and more coherent I might share with Chief Delphi my strong opinions regarding Dean Kamen's obsession with having engineers fill the role currently filled by athletes. (Hint: I think that would destroy the field of engineering)

[GUI]

Our team started doing letters last year, but no one on the team seems to get overly excited about it. However, I know a few people on sports teams that find it rather infuriating (What? Robotics isn't a sport!...). Getting it done wasn't very difficult, I'm pretty sure most people on the team didn't know about it until they got theirs.

I personally don't see what's so important about getting a letter either, I think the robot and the relationships you build with your team mates, mentors, and the community are a much better reward for your efforts.

[GaryVoshol]

Can other "club/teams" in the school get letters? The Debate Team, the Chess Team, Model UN, the Marching Band? If so, then you have a point. If not, well then the athletic department has reserved official school letters for themselves.

There's nothing to prohibit you from going to the store that sells the "varsity jackets" and ordering yourself one, with whatever FIRST and FRC team logos you want on it.

[Taylor]

I've got a white paper with our rules for lettering. Within it, there are restrictions for "varsity" and "JV" membership.

[4throck]

I was a member of the State Championship winning Scholastic Bowl team. Despite Scholastic Bowl being part of the VHSL (Virginia High School League), our team being part of the athletics department, and being more successful than any team at our high school in years, we didn't get anything. Basically, most schools don't view this type of thing as a sport. Probably because these things aren't.

Besides, why would you want one anyway? They generally just make you look stupid.

[Steve_Alaniz]

It's probably not a good thing to mention but I lettered in Marching Band... Still with FIRST robotics being considered a "Club" and not part of "official" school practices, lettering would be difficult.
Hey don't get me wrong... I love watching a good football game and I think we need athletics... we just need to "re-wire" peoples perceptions so they can see value in robotics and that will take time...


Steve

[thatmorman]

in my opinion First is a sport, last year i spent 167 hours during the build season alone, first off there is no sport i've ever played that i've dedicated that many hours too. second you sweat, cheer, shout, and basically have the time of your life here... i think we should sign a patician to make first an officially recognized SPORT. i would kill to get a lettermans jacket for First, with like little robots on it, and dates to every competition you've gone to, i think it would be pretty sick...

[Doug G]

At our school athletics is a big deal. However in the past 10 years - academic "sports" like robotics have also become a big deal. We have students that can letter in Academic Decathelon, Band, and Tutoring; so I will probably pursue Robotics Lettering as well. I do agree with one of the previous comments about "who cares". So far there is only one student who cares on the team and to be honest they don't do a whole lot - so my motivation is fairly low right now.

[65_Xero_Huskie]

Our High School considers this to be a Varsity Sport.
With all the long hours you put into it and all of the things you have to do to get prepared it should be counted as.
Plus you play in a competition with other schools. Isnt that what your basketball team does?

[Debbie]

Team 1023, Bedford Express, is working on getting Varsity Letters. We have submitted a proposal, submitted a persuasive essay, made a video presentation and are hopeful we will have it worked out soon. (Still keeping our fingers crossed for this year's seniors, as they are amazing!) In the meantime, thanks to all the teams for posting on all of the different threads. You have greatly helped our efforts. It is hard to know where to post this with so many great threads! We also made a slideshow/video of why FIRST members should get a varsity letter. Feel free to use it if it helps you. If you need a better copy than youtubes copy, just let me know.
-Debbie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8-CVg0QAyg

[Gary B.]

In our school, sports and the arts programs still reign supreme in the extra curricular activities realm. But with that said, this will be the third year that some members (those with at least two years of solid participation) will receive letters. The letters were actually a by-product of a fundamental change that the school accepted three years ago regarding our team and the other academic teams present in the school. The key word here is teams. Up until this time, our team and the other teams (e.g. speech and debate, mock trial, academic decathalon, mathletes, etc.) were treated as clubs. The status change was the result of a concerted effort to try elevate the "status" of the academic teams in order to compete with sports and arts programs. We're not quite on par yet. But, we are working on it. So, my suggestion here is it may help you out if you can develop some stategic allies to work with in order to achieve your goal. There is power in numbers.

[Joe J.]

The way I see it, It depends on how your team/club is registered with the school. 862 is officially a club, thus we are required to have open membership, and are not eligible for Varsity Letters. We do how ever qualify under our school's Academic / Activities Letter program. We also operate like a club with a President, VP, Treasurer, and Secretary instead of a Captain.

Edit I attached the most recent copy of P-CEP's Academic / Activities Letter Requirements I have.

[J Hayashi]

Our school has been giving letters for robotics the past three years. Thanks to our drama department already awarding academic letters, we did not need to go out and make a strong case for robotics.

Like the drama department, letters are awarded at the academics awards night and not at the athletics awards night. It is a separation that seems to make everyone happy.

I have also found that all students enjoy the recognition for lettering, because it shows the work and dedication they have put into robotics. The difference between letter awards and participation awards is huge for many students.

The letter does not seem to be about the jacket. My observation has been that only students who have lettered in sports add the patch to their letter jacket. Students don't seem to have the need to go out and purchase a jacket for robotics.

[Bob Steele]

Our school has no athletics or music programs. Our FIRST robotics team and our Science Olympiad teams ARE our competitive teams.

We have letters on both. There are different requirements but like most athletic programs, lettering is largely decided upon by the coach of each team.
For robotics I (coach) require 2 years of committed service to the team. This honor is given to those that have committed time and effort to developing the team during FIRST season AND during the rest of the year.

FIRST is a 12 month activity. I just wish we had MORE months in the year.
Learning and mentoring never stop.

Our time commitments certainly ebb and flow but we have fundraising, a JV FTC team, Lego League teams to support, an FLL regional to put on, lots of community outreach and team building exercises to help improve our team's abilities to perform both on and off the field.

Our team prides itself on continuous improvement. We are never happy with status quo.

Supporting all of these efforts with hard work and commitment earns a student a letter.

I have coached both academic and athletic teams for a long time.
I have NEVER seen any other team that I have worked with display the consistent high level of quality effort and commitment shown by the Skunks.

I am proud to give them letters and proud to be one of them.