so for this next upcoming season for robotics every person on our team has to do some sort of thing that will improve upon the team or improve upon the community. i think this is a wonderful the idea, but the only problem with it is that i have no idea what to do. i would like to do something to help the team but I don’t know what to do.
it is hard to try something to like educate people because our robotics starts when school starts then like half those people end up not joining for the season so…any ideas?
I’d like to present my random ABCs of community service…
If you’re interested in teambuilding do something as a group. Do something that relates to engineering, science, technology or business. You could do other community service in your free time, but this is for your team.
A - Awareness
Do a campaign for something. Research an issue and bring it to light for your community. Call interest groups and do interviews. You’d be surprised how much awareness helps. This is a simpler project. It could relate to the science programs in local schools or something to do with the area or even at a national level.
B - Beautify
Nobody lives in a perfect area. Somewhere near you there are houses and neighborhoods that need basic maintenence help, especially before the winter starts. There is liability here that you’d have to discuss, but activities with the group such as painting buildings/fences/other, constructing a shed, or just picking up trash at a playground or river can make a lot of difference for people. It’s also a great way to bond.
C - Collect
Institutions such as Ronald McDonald House and others collect items such as pop tabs to recycle and earn money. Start a recycling campaign with your team, or collect cash or items for a rummage sale in the community. These earn a LOT of money. Think about it: everybody on the team is responsible for a table. Pick a day where members of the community are available and try to do it in a relatively available area. You’d be surprised how much money you can earn. In the Robotics world, sales like this have a history of success. Use the history to your advantage.
There’s a lot of work out there that can be done, but to be realistic, you are highschool students. Your job, first and foremost, is to study, learn, and pursue your education. The team, while an important activity, needs to leave space for that. Hence, don’t overdo yourself. Start small if you’ve never done a project. If there are teams in your area with more experience they can help.
OK, this is something that I’ve done for the past 2 years, and could be a bit large of a task, or very simple, its just how you go about it. If your local middle school in your district does NOT have a FLL (FIRST LEGO League) Team, then I suggest you go over there, bug somebody about getting one started, and help it get going. If it DOES have a FLL Team already, then find out who runs it at the middle school, and ask that person how you can help. Just remeber, these are going to be middle school students you are going to be working with, so come there ready to help them get on the right track.
How does it help the team? It looks really good on a Chairman’s award sumission, plus it just is good PR in your local community. Also, consider it as a recruiting program. Many of T66’s members were on the MIddle School FLL program before coming on the team.
By the way, don’t worry about educating in this service, just show the kids how its done. (its = designing, building, programming, etc.) You may have to learn a few things yourself, but it goes a long way. Just remember you are doing this to get people ‘interested’ in engineering and tech, or at the least inspire them to start thinking about engineering as a future. It’s pretty much the same way I ended up on T66.
The RAGE team holds an annual teambuilding weekend in the pre-season to help students and mentors get to know one another better. One year they spent the weekend at a camp working together doing teambuilding exercises. Last year they partnered with local organizations and built a handicap ramp for a wheelchair-bound resident in our community. Throughout the pre-season, every meeting is started with a short teambuilding exercise. These weekly exercises can be easy to organize and cost little to do.
As an addition to Joe’s comment, we have been working very hard over the last year to get the FLL program into as many Boys & Girls Clubs as possible. For the past season we had 53 Clubs across the country participate. We would like to add many more this year. If FLL is a direction your team might consider, I would encourage you to look into the Boys & Girls Clubs in your area. If you need help with contact information for any Club in the U.S., let me know and I can track the info down.
This project is part of FIRSTs underserved initiative and would be a great experience for any interested FIRST team. There is a possibility that we will have some team grant money available for new Boys & Girls Club teams. Please contact me for more information on this or if I can provide any help.
