Posted by nick237.
Engineer on team #237, sie h2o bots, from Watertown high school ct and sieman co.
Posted on 10/26/2000 7:52 PM MST
Because the team puts so much effort into the FIRST program as an extra curricular activity, we have approached the Board of Education with the possibility of making the Robotics First program part of the school curriculum.
To our surprise we were asked to give them a general lay out of how this type of a program could be incorporated into the school system, as they too thought it was a great idea.’ wow’.
Is any one aware of any school in the FIRST program that has incorporated this into the school curriculum. we would be interested in contacting them for more information.
Nick Team 237
Posted by Samuel Lindhorst.
Engineer on team #240, Mach Vee, from Jefferson High School and Visteon.
Posted on 10/27/2000 12:03 AM MST
In Reply to: Credits for FIRST program. posted by nick237 on 10/26/2000 7:52 PM MST:
: Because the team puts so much effort into the FIRST program as an extra curricular activity, we have approached the Board of Education with the possibility of making the Robotics First program part of the school curriculum.
: To our surprise we were asked to give them a general lay out of how this type of a program could be incorporated into the school system, as they too thought it was a great idea.’ wow’.
: Is any one aware of any school in the FIRST program that has incorporated this into the school curriculum. we would be interested in contacting them for more information.
: Nick Team 237
Our HS has a block program, and we just rolled the Robotics team into a class. Pretty successful. Currently we are like 30/70 class/nonclass, which is fine, we don’t want all propellerheads. (Hi Dave & Jason :o)
However, trying to get a hold of the teacher involved is about impossible. Email any questions you have, and I’ll get them answered or get you a phone number.
Sam
Posted by Ken.
Student on team #192, Gunn Robotics Team, from Henry M. Gunn Senior High School.
Posted on 10/27/2000 1:51 AM MST
In Reply to: Re: Credits for FIRST program. posted by Samuel Lindhorst on 10/27/2000 12:03 AM MST:
Well, our school have a class call Engineering Technology because of the metal shop we have, and it was taught by our advisor, Mr. Dunbar. The first and second year, GRT was a club with Mr. Dunbar as an advisor, and the third year, they combined the class and GRT, so everyone in GRT will enroll in Engineering Technology, with some exception students who are college students or veteran students. Because the team have more than 50 person, there are two class period, but it doesn’t really matter because most of the building is after school anyway.
During class, the students will be taught about the shop, stress/structuring, AutoCAD… etc. And there will be a small engineering challenge as well to teach the students about team work before the robotics competition. Even though it’s a class, the student still run the class and grades the project with the help of Mr. Dunbar.
Basically, the class exist because Mr. Dunbar is there for us. So you really need to find some dedicated teachers in order to add the team to the school.
E-mail me if you want more detail.
Posted by Erin. [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]
Other on team #1, ., from alumni of the juggernauts and …
Posted on 10/27/2000 6:33 AM MST
In Reply to: Credits for FIRST program. posted by nick237 on 10/26/2000 7:52 PM MST:
I know that the Juggernauts have used FIRST as a model to how a new cirriculum should be set up; and they did it, quite successfully. However, they come from a technical school. I would be interested in seeing how a regular high school could do it. You would probably have to follow the route of:
-Machining classes
-Manufacturing Classes
-CAD/Engineering Design coruses
-Electrical Systems, etc. classes
I know that they also have the team as an after-school class which some students have recieved high school credit for in the past (I, included).
just a basic run-through… does your school have any of these resources already?
Hope you guys can go through with it.
-Erin
Posted by Joe Johnson. [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]
Engineer on team #47, Chief Delphi, from Pontiac Central High School and Delphi Automotive Systems.
Posted on 10/27/2000 9:32 AM MST
In Reply to: Re: Credits for FIRST program. posted by Erin on 10/27/2000 6:33 AM MST:
In the Fall, our team meets as a club after school (and now BEFORE school too thanks to OCCRA – but that is a subject for another message).
In the Winter/Spring our team meets as a for credit class.
The 1 hour in class each day doesn’t begin to cover what is needed to actually make a FIRST team run, but it is nice to have a base to build on. Administration stuff and subteam report outs happen at the beginning of each class, then we break out to smaller groups to get stuff done. The FIRST class is typically the last class of the day, so we can just keep on working when the bell rings.
It is a good way to go. Highly recommended.
Joe J.
Posted by Dan.
Other on team - from Carnegie Mellon sponsored by -.
Posted on 10/28/2000 12:43 AM MST
In Reply to: Credits for FIRST program. posted by nick237 on 10/26/2000 7:52 PM MST:
My old team, team 10 BSM/Banner (www.bsm-acs.org) included FIRST into its Advanced Competitive Science class. We did other science competition, this and FIRST Lego League were our largest though, and it was a class as well as an extracirricular. I’m not sure how it’s advanced over the last year (I’m sure it has though), but feel free to email them at the aforementioned website with any questions.
Dan
Posted by Jason Morrella.
Coach on team #254, Cheesy Poofs, from Bellarmine/Broadway and NASA Ames/Cypress Semiconductor.
Posted on 10/28/2000 1:53 AM MST
In Reply to: Credits for FIRST program. posted by nick237 on 10/26/2000 7:52 PM MST:
Nick,
At the Nationals last year, the superintendent of the San Jose Unified School district announced that her district was becoming the first in the nation to adopt first on a ‘district & administrative’ level - pledging that FIRST & FIRST Lego League teams would be written into the district budget for EVERY SINGLE SCHOOL in the district.
The SJUSD provides every high school with $5,000 (with the condition they also raise a minimum of $5,000 from other sources). Also, each middle school gets $1500 for three FLL teams - and each Elementary school gets $500 for one FLL team.
The SJUSD also allows each high school to start a robotics class - one school counts it as ‘applied physics’, another as ‘technology’, another as ‘advanced science’ and so on - it’s up to each school to create their own program & class. ALSO, and a big step forward for FIRST, the SJUSD acknowledges the time & committment by the teachers as ‘coaches’ equal to the sports - giving them ‘coaching stipends’.
Hopefully, these are examples which you can use or can present to your board of education and say ‘look at the support other districts are giving their students and teachers - shouldn’t we get the same opportunities?’ – a little well placed guilt never hurt 
Best of luck,
Jason