Lettering in FIRST

[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.

[Molten]

Letters are not the point of FIRST. The point is to learn. Let's the sports people get the lettermen jackets. I'd rather build a bot any day. My suggestion to you? Forget it. That may sound mean, but it is not worth the time or the effort. We are not on robotics to be 'cool' we are here to learn. That letter does not help you learn therefore it has no use in robotics.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by Molten

That letter does not help you learn therefore it has no use in robotics.

It's still nice to be recognized.

In many schools, robotics is considered a "club" and has no significant status. The TechnoKats are fortunate to be a "team", and to receive true support and recognition from the school administration. Being honored by a proclamation from the school board doesn't help the students learn either, but it certainly doesn't hurt.

[Carlee10]

We don't want letters to be "cool", but we do want recognition by our schools. We do put as much time and effort and passion into what we do as any athlete, speech team memeber, mucisian, or any other person does. I am glad that I'm getting a letter for robotics as a senior. I've already got a jacket, for lettering twice already in music, and going to state. I'll also recieve an acedemic competition letter as a senior. That's not the point in competing, and I'm defintely not"cool" for it, but I'm glad I'm getting the recgonition for putting my time, effort, and brainpower into it. It's ok to want to get something extra, after all the work is done and you have extra time on your hands. Just don't be bitter towards sports teams. Think about how insulted you feel when somone says you don't work hard in robotics, or its not important. Every club, sport, team, and association should have the option to create a letter in their school. It just makes sense that way.

*Steps off soapbox*

[SL8]

I wish I had time to give a proper response, but my school projects and lack of sleep from mild insomnia is starting to get to me. I can say that while our robotic's team members get letters, we don't think of them as our goal. Moreover, I recall something called foot in the door technique. It's just a start.

As a side note , I've been reading many opinions/ post of people that have very bad grammar/spelling issues. It helps communication when you have decent spelling/ grammar. Please.

[IKE]

I graduated in 97. I had both an athletic letter for Wrestling, and an academic letter for competing on various academic teams. Academic letters were given for outsatnding accomplishment in team oriented competition outside of traditional sports (band, choir, math team....).
I really enjoyed the academic letter because it gave me a chance to showcase some accomplishments. Let's face it, at my school you could win the State Science Olympiad and you MIGHT get a morning anouncement Monday, or you could just make it to the conference finals in basketball and get a 2 hour pep rally.
One thing I learned was that if you want to inspire others they need to know what you have done. While modesty can be a noble attribute, it doesn't necessarily help spread the word of FIRST. Do you want funding? Do you want to build your team? Do you want to build teams around you? If you answered yes to any of those then please do everything possible to spark conversations about your team and show people you are proud of your team. If this includes a lettermans jacket with a little brass pin of a triangle, circle, and square, so be it.