Limits on Team Hours

[Foster]

This topic has been a discussion inside our team for a while since we have had students and mentors put 400+ hours in from 1 Jan through our final regional. (I'm one of them). We've talked about putting hour limits down but presently our view is:

1) School comes first. We follow up on all of the kids with their teachers at school to make sure they are keeping up with their class work. We also follow up on behavior issues and if the school suspends a roboteer for bad behavior we also follow their lead.

2) Family wishes come next. If a parent says "little Foster can only work 4 hours a week" then it's 4 hours. We work with the parents to understand what we are doing and what their requirements are. Siri is putting the final touches on a guide that spells out what the work schedule looks like. In most cases we are comfortable with about a 20 hour per week commitment.

We do have late build sessions at the end of the build cycle and sometimes parents are not happy about coming out late to get roboteers. We will organize transportation for them with the parents permission.

3) Health. If a roboteer is sick or exhausted we will send them home. We are very aware that some are burning the candle at both ends. To the best of our ability we monitor food and beverage intake to make sure that people are eating and drinking.

4) Other activities. At one level it's not my problem. I'm not going to go to another activity mentor (like band) and go "Hey I have an issue with the time that you require". And when those mentors come to me to complain I'm going to tell them that they need to work it out with the student. At another level I am going to check in with the student and make sure they are doing the things that are important to them and that we are not pressuring them to work for us.

There will be ranges in how many hours get put in and where. Two years ago one of the roboteers was interested in electrical and only electrical. He came in for 2 design / planning sessions and during the three build nights for electrical and did nothing but that. He was happy, we were happy and so everyone was happy with the experience. Total time was about 30 hours.

And then there is Siri and she did work crazy hours her junior and senior years along with her freshman year at school. (At some level I'd like to be 1/2 as energetic and organized as she is.) Other students that have gone away to school (or going away) have said that they want to be mentors and we gently push them to go to college and focus on that. We gently pushed on Siri but as you can tell from her note we had limited success.

So in summary "It is what it is" - roboteers and mentors will try to work the hours they want. As long as they are keeping the other balls in the air (School, family, health) then I'm good with their hours. You only get out of life what you put into it. When there is a problem we will step in and try to get things back on track.

[Siri]

Originally Posted by Foster

Other students that have gone away to school (or going away) have said that they want to be mentors and we gently push them to go to college and focus on that. We gently pushed on Siri but as you can tell from her note we had limited success.

Warning: This is more about alumni mentor hours than HS students'.

I appreciate the push, though. In fact, I also gently push our graduates towards college and tell them to get settled before even considering robotics. (Which I did indeed do, not participating basically at all fall semester. And now I'm about to break 1000 hours since kickoff. Anyway...) I talk to them about their grades and commitments too. Most think it's a little weird, but it works. If they're going to come back, I'd rather it be in spite of me rather than because my example. It shows they really want to be here (also, that we're patently insane), and they're doing it entirely of their own volition. The way I see it, everything from there on is their problem, though I'll of course try to help if they ask. This is my basic philosophy with the HS kids too (though with less "grow up" than I offer the alumni), along with the overruling points Foster explained.

Personally, I'm just a ridiculously stubborn person to get rid of. Foster should really know this by now.