Admissions Process for becoming a team member??

[archiver]

Posted by Erin at 04/25/2001 10:18 AM EST


College Student on team #65, Huskie Brigade, from Pontiac Northern High School and GM Powertrain.


In Reply to: Admissions Process for becoming a team member??
Posted by Angela on 04/24/2001 7:34 PM EST:



If you're lucky enough to live in what Ken Patton refers to as the "c.g." of FIRST (and it truly is), then you have a few ways to look at admissions.

On my old team, the students had to prove themselves for a full semester before being fully taken on as a member. It was a hard process, you had to show up for meetings and stay the whole time, just like class. This however did not go unrewarded, as they gave a full credit to students for participating.

My current team has quite a rigorus application process from what I understand: some students who are on the team this year tried last year but didn't make the time restriction or the cut, etc. You have to have an outstanding application and turn it in on time to be accepted and then keep eligibility on the team by keeping high standards to other students and keeping your grades up. Just a profile on some of the students we have: the other night when our team was recognized with the other pontiac teams at the board meeting, our high school's student council (best in state) was recognized for their accomplishments, and when they were called up, many members from our team went up because they were members of this awesome student council.

The advantage of OCCRA

I believe OCCRA is not only a fun game to play and a powerful tool in teaching hands on engineering, but a powerful tool in deciding who should be on the team as well. As these are mini-competitions, students must conduct themselves in a manner much like how they would on a FIRST team- be responsible, show up for meetings, help, etc. and this gives teams participating an upper hand by helping them notice the strengths and weaknesses of students in a real-live FIRST-type situation. This helps for early and proper analysis of students.

Just some info I felt like sharing.

Erin