Getting help from your principal and local school district

[Allison]

From my experience:

The team I mentored as a college student had a lot of issues getting a space to work. The ideal place for any team would be their own shop with machines and everything so they don't have to pack up each night. While this isn't possible for all teams I know many use the high school machine shop which can present its own set of challenges.

First thing you need to do is identify your teams unique needs. Will you need access to the school machine shop? Are you even allowed to access the shop? What will you do for tools (even if you have access to the machines many shop teachers do not like others using their tools)...etc. Will you need access to school computers, if not are outside computers allow in the building? Although these may seem like very basic questions that are very important before starting your search. (I am sure I can think of more questions if you need help coming up with them)

The team I mentored as a college student was not allow access to the schools machine shop the teams first or second year competing so different solutions had to be arranged each year. The team's first year competing our high school teacher at the time approached the principal to get us space after the the shop teachers said no. The solution although not the most ideal worked...we ended up building in a second floor converted copy room in the school. We purchased a small bandsaw and table top drill press for that season.

The next year was a bit more complex without a teacher our team was forced to find a different solution. Which involved finding a different facility out in the community that was willing to be home for the team for that year. I would suggest avoiding going this route if possible since we had to deal with insurance and ever thing else for this year since the school insurance didn't cover us. We ended up sharing a high school shop with another FRC team for that year.

The teams third year due to some changes on the school board and the teams positive presence in the school they were given access to the school shop and computer labs. Moral of the story if you don't succeed find a temporary solution and try try again.

The principal is probably one of the first people to approach once you have a plan in place for exactly what you team needs. I do not suggest trying to leave other admin out of it because you can show up one day to find a sign on the computer lab saying your meeting is canceled due to the fact after school activities can not use computer labs. Also come up with a list of questions about using the facility like does a employee of the school have to be there at all times or can another adult fill that role. The most important thing is to go in having done your homework like knowing there is an empty closet somewhere in the building you can use for storage. Also if you haven't already recruit the shop teacher he can be a big asset.


That is all I can think of for now. If you need more help/ideas just ask.

Good luck with your search.

~Allison