This was my first year in FIRST, the team’s(1504) third. I would have been there from the start, but that has little to do with my question. Because this is my first year, I never experienced how the mentors and students interact, and what their roles are. From what I noticed in my team (which is still pretty small), is that the students are mostly responsible for building, thinking up designs and cheering/mascotting, etc. The mentors do much the same, but make the design choices more often than the students, sometimes without consulting the students, which is fine in a pinch, and undersrtandable. I was just wondering if it is the same in your team, and how it differs.
Welcome to FIRST (hope you enjoyed your rookie year) and to Chief Delphi. There is a forum called Team Organization where topics like this have been discussed - if you poke around there you may find some insight as to how other teams are organized… and remember, every team is unique so what works for some, doesn’t work for others.
Team structures vary widely from teams like mine that have almost no mentor involvement to teams where the mentors run almost everything and the students learn through observation. It is up to you and your team to decide which structure is best.
If you have a problem with the mentors changing things without consulting the students which it sounds like you do, then it would be a good idea to sit down with the whole team during the off season and analyze what worked and what didn’t so that everyone will be happy for next year.
Thanks, I didn’t see that forum, I’ll go check it out.