Curently Team 1073 is in trouble…we just can’t get the kids interested in taking charge of the team…we want to go to post season comps but we can’t seem to get the kids motivated, we were suppost to set up at a flea market today, we had many volunteers but only 3 kids showed up, none of the “elected” team student leaders or the student that took charge of running the event today showed up. Our head advisor has informed me that if the kids do not take a lead role in the team this year, that there will be no more Team FORCE…with going into my 6 year of FIRST I really hate seeing teams disappear, but I don’t know what to do…can anyone help? This team has great potential, especially with what we did this year (we won the website award and rookie all-star award @ the BAE regional). Please contact me (trollin1st@hotmail.com) ASAP with any advise or please post to this link…thank you in advance for any assistance.
*Originally posted by trollin1st *
**Curently Team 1073 is in trouble…we just can’t get the kids interested in taking charge of the team…we want to go to post season comps but we can’t seem to get the kids motivated, we were suppost to set up at a flea market today, we had many volunteers but only 3 kids showed up, none of the “elected” team student leaders or the student that took charge of running the event today showed up. Our head advisor has informed me that if the kids do not take a lead role in the team this year, that there will be no more Team FORCE…with going into my 6 year of FIRST I really hate seeing teams disappear, but I don’t know what to do…can anyone help? This team has great potential, especially with what we did this year (we won the website award and rookie all-star award @ the BAE regional). Please contact me (trollin1st@hotmail.com) ASAP with any advise or please post to this link…thank you in advance for any assistance. **
What I would do, is find the each persons potential. With our team, we have set jobs. Some people are better at PR stuff, and other people are better working on the website. Figure out what everyone’s talents are, and get them to use them. I would also pull one or two of the older members off to the side, and tell them to run the team, and to be the “captain”. I hope you can figure it out.
Good Luck to everyone at the invitationals.
*Originally posted by GregTheGreat *
**What I would do, is find the each persons potential. With our team, we have set jobs. Some people are better at PR stuff, and other people are better working on the website. Figure out what everyone’s talents are, and get them to use them. I would also pull one or two of the older members off to the side, and tell them to run the team, and to be the “captain”. I hope you can figure it out.Good Luck to everyone at the invitationals. **
Psst. They’re a rookie team. They don’t have “older members” yet.
I’ve sometimes run into the problem you’re describing, Janice. Often, I just worked harder to pick up the extra slack, and while I didn’t mind doing that most of the time, there were times when it got trying. I understand that a lot of people are much busier than I am, too.
If the students aren’t willingly stepping up to take on the responsibilities of the team, maybe you could consider implementing a system of accountability and responsibility that forces the responsibility upon them - with consequences if they don’t take it seriously.
Or, depending on your perspective, offer incentive to the students that do participate.
You’ve been around FIRST for awhile, so I know you’ve seen or heard of examples of these things, if you don’t have it implemented already. Sometimes, though, making the students aware that you expect them to be responsible for themselves is enough to get them to stand up and pay attention.
Are the students aware that the team won’t exist if they don’t step up? Maybe they should be.
*Originally posted by M. Krass *
**Psst. They’re a rookie team. They don’t have “older members” yet.Are the students aware that the team won’t exist if they don’t step up? Maybe they should be. **
I didn’t mean older members, I meant like the juniors or seniors on their team.
*Originally posted by M. Krass *
**Often, I just worked harder to pick up the extra slack, and while I didn’t mind doing that most of the time, there were times when it got trying. I understand that a lot of people are much busier than I am, too.
Are the students aware that the team won’t exist if they don’t step up? Maybe they should be. **
Unfortually they are aware that there will not be a team if they don’t step up…what’s happening is that some volunteer for something and don’t follow thru, like this morning. The excuse that was told to the head advisor was that the student in charge of this morning event was “too tired”…that made me angry cause first of all I drive approx 1/2 hr one way to get to the team I work with and second, I am working on 8hrs sleep from Friday to today…4hrs a night doesn’t cut it.
Also, we did try a basis of the having kids do what they like IE programing the website, ETC…it seemed to work duing build time, but now they don’t want to work on fundraising…we have about $40 left, we wanted to start fundraising now so we don’t have to rush like last year…I dunno, thanks again for the advise, please keep it coming. I hope it helps…
Every team has its bumps and bruises on the road to surviviving, it getting members to fundraise is actually one of the hardest things to do, because everyone figures that someone else will pick up their slack…but that never works out correctly. If you need some help this summer I’ll be around till the end of August in NH adn willing to help you out soem in implenting a system that makes it mandatory for each and every person to fundraise and try to make it fun. I know some of my favorite memories in 166 included candy sales at the dump and carwashes 
Its a great way to encourage team bonding and team work, feel free to e-mail me if you need soem help!
If I were you guys, and need help, reach out to other FIRST teams. I know that there are people all over the country that would be more then happy to help. I personally know programming very well. If you guys ever need help with you’re programming give me an e-mail. I could even set up a website where we could go back and fourth working on you’re programming. If you guys ever need any help I’ll do whatever is possible to help you guys out.
Good Luck to everyone at the invitationals.
I’m not convinced that running a team as a 12 month a year activity is always possible. Sometimes it is. Team 811 is trying to keep things going this summer for example. Last year, after our rookie year, it really wan’t possible. There is a level of burn out at the end of every season. For a rookie team it is often worse because there experience is not there.
Plus it is a school activity and during the summer kids minds turn to other things. And people are not around as much.
My suggestion is let people have the summer off. In the fall, start recruiting all over again. This year’s team will be refreshed and ready to go. They should then be ready to get started again.
*Originally posted by Alfred Thompson *
**I’m not convinced that running a team as a 12 month a year activity is always possible. Sometimes it is. Team 811 is trying to keep things going this summer for example. Last year, after our rookie year, it really wan’t possible. There is a level of burn out at the end of every season. For a rookie team it is often worse because there experience is not there.Plus it is a school activity and during the summer kids minds turn to other things. And people are not around as much.
My suggestion is let people have the summer off. In the fall, start recruiting all over again. This year’s team will be refreshed and ready to go. They should then be ready to get started again. **
I disagree. I think that is good to keep you’re team going during the summer months. I think the summer is the best time to do fundraisers, and why not, the weathers nice, get them out of the way. I understand that many teams do not have the resources to do it, but if they do, I would highly recommend it.
Good Luck to everyone at the invitationals.
*Originally posted by GregTheGreat *
**I disagree. I think that is good to keep you’re team going during the summer months. I think the summer is the best time to do fundraisers, and why not, the weathers nice, get them out of the way. I understand that many teams do not have the resources to do it, but if they do, I would highly recommend it.Good Luck to everyone at the invitationals. **
If you have the resources and are able to keep a team going during the summer you should, by all means, do it. But sometimes that’s just not possible. Mr. Thompson pointed out that the level of burnout among teams, especially rookie teams, goes way up. Sometimes it’s just best to take the summer off. I know 93 would love to keep things going during the summer, but after how intense the season during the school year is, the kids need a break as well as the adults. As for fundraising, there is time enought to do that in the fall before the build starts.
If a student who needs a break is made to do something they are not ready to do, it will become a burden and you could lose that student. Give the kids a summer off to let them recoup from this season and think about thier committment to the team.
- Katie
The best way to get students involved is to show them the direct effects of their behavior and actions. Basically, what I’m getting at - if a student has something done for them, i.e. the parents and mentors do all the fundraising, talking to companies, and most of the machining and building, the students are not going to readily see the effect of what they do on the team.
However, when a student has the chance to get involved, such as, “Okay kids, what kind of fundraiser would you like to do?” and then only helping them pull it off instead of pulling it off for them, they see what they are doing contributes to the team in a positive way.
Note of Warning - This kind of behavior (i.e. getting more and more involved in your team) can lead to a serious case of FIRST-itis, resulting in rendering a person a FIRST-a-holic. Use with caution.
Any FIRST Team requires a great deal of commitment. It is normal to suffer from “FIRST Fatigue” after the Championship Event. However, this is not an excuse to skip out on your duties to your team. Don’t be too hard on your students because I assume none of them have ever done this before. Your team needs a fun event to boost moral. I think the best way to do this is to have a team picnic.
My team organizes a picnic at the end of every season. It works wonders for team morale. We all sit down, eat and reminisce about the year. We give out awards to acknowledge each other. These awards can be serious or inside jokes based around some funny anecdote (A bunch of mentors get stuck in a Houston elevator with a bottle of wine and a case of beer, give them some MOE Green wine glasses). We watch a commemorative videos that team members make (Jake did the best job ever with the many videos set to music he made). We play games as a team (everyone versus Jerome basketball game, can’t believe Jerome won:eek:). It is also tradition for the students to prank the engineers. I can’t wait to see the video of my Silly String Rampage, although technically I am a mentor:rolleyes:. I guess I am just immature :). 2 years as student and 1 year as a mentor, hope I’ll always be a student at heart.
If you already had a picnic, go bowling or something like that. If you haven’t had an end of the year picnic I recommend you start the tradition. Start simple, pack a lunch and go to a local park. If the need arises you can make it larger and more elaborate as the years progress. Ours is attend by about 80-100, team member, family member, alumni and sponsors. Encourage everyone to make awards. The amount of time you spend making awards is up to you. I spent a couple hours with Photoshop. Some engineers start building awards months in advance (kinda like Dean’s Clock)
Next year you should have a series of pre-build season meetings for team building exercises. FIRST is not about building a robot, FIRST is about building a team. The robot is a reflection of your team. If you build a great team you will build a great bot, even if only your team can see it. You will see positive experiences with your team in every spinning gear. You will want to do any thing you can with your team. Good Luck in these trying times. Hope to see your team return next year!
*Originally posted by Katie Reynolds *
**If you have the resources and are able to keep a team going during the summer you should, by all means, do it. But sometimes that’s just not possible. Mr. Thompson pointed out that the level of burnout among teams, especially rookie teams, goes way up. Sometimes it’s just best to take the summer off. I know 93 would love to keep things going during the summer, but after how intense the season during the school year is, the kids need a break as well as the adults. As for fund raising, there is time enought to do that in the fall before the build starts.If a student who needs a break is made to do something they are not ready to do, it will become a burden and you could lose that student. Give the kids a summer off to let them recoup from this season and think about thier committment to the team.
- Katie **
I understand what you are saying. There are members of our team that once the season is over they take off. Although there are team members that want to stick around all during the summer. If you have the resources, make the team so fun that nobody will want to leave. One thing that we do is a beach party and a nice reception. I personally am probably going to have a Party or something. Make the team during the summer more of a hangout then actual work. Just Again, this works for my team, it doesn’t necessarily work for every team. Just trying to give you some ideas.
Good Luck to everyone at the invitationals.
It is important to consider that students have different interests… Consider when the team started in the Fall. I imagin that you stressed robot building, web site construction and engineering related stuff. ( I could be wrong). So you “attracted” students who like that stuff. Now, you are asking the same students to do something else that they may have no interest in. I know that kids have to do this, but a diversified team may have students that would LIKE doing the fundraising stuff.
Step 1. A postseason survey needs to be made and given to the students to fill out. Include a 2003/04 budget and
ASK:
What they liked best, least etc.
How they suggest that the team raise the
$8000 - $40,000 needed to run a team for a year.
For input for post season activites
For leaders for different committees.
Why they joined the team.
For a list of the team’s strengths and weaknesses
Step 2. The leaders take a look at the results and decide if the team that the students want is the same team that the leaders want.
Step 3. If necessary, limit membership to those that want more than just robot building. You may find that most of next year’s seniors and juniors do not want to do much, but the sophomores and juniors do. That is fine, build a team around them.
You may find that you can then attract a more diversified group of students. Our team no longer accepts students who wish to be involved only from January to May.
Good luck. (our team survey is due back this week)
Maybe what the team members really need is an example of the leadership that needs to be taken to make their team a success. Perhaps the key (since the team is a rookie one) is to get more adults involved for the mean time… adults who would be willing to take the students into groups and focus on their strengths. Once the students are confident that they can take the team into their own hands, they can do so.
I think they just need something to work off. Once their efforts get rolling, they’re good to go. 
-Lisa