MARS efforts. suggestions?

[Chris is me]

Do you have your Chairman's feedback form on you? Look at that first. Honestly if you do all that, and somehow manage to figure out how to improve from THERE, you are a shoe in for EI at 90% of regionals.

[Alex2614]

If i remember right, the only "negative" thing it said was that we should contact the other FRC teams in West Virginia. There are only 2 others, and we have been making efforts to do that. Other than that, there really wasn't any other "area for improvement."

[Akash Rastogi]

Curriculum changes in the district. Get WVU to sponsor new teams. And then take those teams and form a partnership/collaboration/alliance.

[Alex2614]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

Curriculum changes in the district. Get WVU to sponsor new teams. And then take those teams and form a partnership/collaboration/alliance.

Are you talking about new FRC teams?

As far as curriculum changes, these middle schools are now creating elective classes for FLL so kids can get elective credit. the research project is already integrated into the science curriculum at these middle schools.

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by Alex2614

Are you talking about new FRC teams?

Yes

And VEX Teams. Lots and lots and lots of VEX teams.

[Alex2614]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

Yes

And VEX Teams. Lots and lots and lots of VEX teams.

The problem is, Morgantown cannot sustain more than one FRC team. I mean we are barely getting by financially. We are working to put FTC teams in other areas of the state. Most areas won't support an FRC team; we are talking some areas where there are 30 kids in the county high school. However, we are trying to start FTC teams in these areas. and in larger areas, we will start FTC teams in hopes they will "graduate" to FRC someday. However, we have been hitting roadblock after roadblock in getting these teams started. the main one being trying to find teachers that are willing. But believe me, we are trying. And we hope that once a county has an FLL team or two, they will be more willing to try FTC as well.

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by Alex2614

The problem is, Morgantown cannot sustain more than one FRC team. I mean we are barely getting by financially. We are working to put FTC teams in other areas of the state. Most areas won't support an FRC team; we are talking some areas where there are 30 kids in the county high school. However, we are trying to start FTC teams in these areas. and in larger areas, we will start FTC teams in hopes they will "graduate" to FRC someday. However, we have been hitting roadblock after roadblock in getting these teams started. the main one being trying to find teachers that are willing. But believe me, we are trying. And we hope that once a county has an FLL team or two, they will be more willing to try FTC as well.

FTC Team are not cost effective. Look at more VEX teams in the state. And I meant more FRC teams in your state, not the district or county.

[Alex2614]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

FTC Team are not cost effective. Look at more VEX teams in the state. And I meant more FRC teams in your state, not the district or county.

Okay well like i said, most areas will not support a full FRC program. Now, clue me in. What is the difference between FTC and VEX?

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Alex2614

Now, clue me in. What is the difference between FTC and VEX?

Plenty. VEX (was) run by IFI. See the second announcement down in the Portal. It's cheaper, it's excellently run, and it's completely independent of FIRST. The size, material, and challenge difficulty are comparable--an FTC team could easily build a robot to compete in VEX, and vice versa, though rules in both could easily block a robot built by the other group.

[Chris is me]

In areas that can't support FRC, start Vex teams. Your team's ability to recognize that many sustainable Vex teams > a bunch of floundering FRC teams is a very wise thing that so may teams aiming for Chairmans simply ignore, and for that I commend you guys.

[Alex2614]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

In areas that can't support FRC, start Vex teams. Your team's ability to recognize that many sustainable Vex teams > a bunch of floundering FRC teams is a very wise thing that so may teams aiming for Chairmans simply ignore, and for that I commend you guys.

Thanks! We have already seen multiple FRC teams in WV fold due to lack of funds (and interfering with basketball), and we didn't want that to happen to our teams. However, we did start one FRC team in WV, but they are no longer doing FIRST.

[IKE]

Keep doing this great stuff, and be patient. For good or for bad, there is only one Chairman's award handed out at each competition. By the sounds of it, you are clearly doing the right stuff. You guys are still fairly "new" relative to some of the teams that have been doing the same stuff for the last 10-15 years.

Here is an off shoot idea though. Talk with other teams, not only in WV, but other areas of the country to form a networked initiative. Many view the Appalacians as a barrier between the East Coast and the Midwest. Brainstorm some "bridging" ideas. Throw that together with some slogans like "at the top of the mountain, we can see both sides", and back it up with initiatives that do just that.

Its a culture changing award. It requires some good hard work at changing the culture. We have had our best success using the balanced dinner approach. Your program stuff is the meat. Helping the community is the starch. Helping other teams are the vegetable. If you do this well, you will have a well balanced meal, but you likely won't get rave reviews. Throw in an interesting dessert, and you will get people talking. The Dessert I refer to is something meaningful and unique. This year we registered all of the Regionals and Districts with Gas Station TV (the TV screens at some gas stations) and did a small marketing campaign through Facebook and Twitter. The point of that campaign was to drive outside traffic and awareness to all of FRC. It aligned with Dean's Homework, it aligned with "changing culture", it only cost some time, and it was adaopting relatively new technology (web based marketing) which was kind of unique. Now, the tricky part is if do something unique that actually works, tell others about it so that they can do it to. Don't save the "good ideas" for your submission as the spirit of the award is "to be a team that others should emulate". Our "unique" idea for this coming year is recycling engineering magazines by planting them in offices about town. We will be doing a small sprinkling year round with a big push in the fall, and then another right before competition season. This has the trifecta of recycling, inspiring STEM related interest, and will be getting people when they have a long attention span (waiting rooms dentist, doctor, repair shop, hospital, salon...). Most importantly for teams that are cash strapped, it is almost free. We had to buy some paper to print hand-outs. Some staples, and some labels. should cost around $20-40 for the entire project. If you are interested in further details on this subject, PM me and I can fill in the rest of the details.

If you guys are winning EI awards, then you are knocking on the door for Chairman's. Keep knocking, and the judges will eventually answer.

[Alex2614]

Originally Posted by EricH

Plenty. VEX (was) run by IFI. See the second announcement down in the Portal. It's cheaper, it's excellently run, and it's completely independent of FIRST. The size, material, and challenge difficulty are comparable--an FTC team could easily build a robot to compete in VEX, and vice versa, though rules in both could easily block a robot built by the other group.

Ok well thanks a lot for the information btw! we will look in to this as well. but whether it be FTC or VEX, we still need to find teachers that are willing.

There are already 3 FTC teams in WV. No VEX teams. That being said, i think it will be better if the new teams have teams that they know in their competitions. Plus, we were thinking about holding an FTC scrimmage/competition at the FLL tournament. That way we could be there at both the FLL event and the FTC one as well. And since it is FIRST sponsored, they will probably be more willing to hold FTC than VEX. Idk, like i said we will look in to it and see what we can do.