Rookie FIRSTs

Jane Doll and I are headed to St Louis, Missouri, to the 2012  Championship Event very soon. Jane Doll has traveled to the Championship Event in my place for the past 2 years.

She was created by a dear friend and mentor, Jess Jankowitsch, when it was discovered that I was unable to travel. Jess organized a group of FIRST-ers who took responsibility for chaperoning Jane Doll and documenting her wonderful experiences with meeting old friends and making new ones.



The slideshow that we’ve included highlights just a few of her experiences at the Championship Event. Jane Doll has had the honor of meeting Dean Kamen, Dr. Woodie Flowers, and Dave Lavery. She has attended the RoboProm with many of the 2011 Dean’s List Finalists and she has met many of the valuable volunteers that help to keep things running smoothly for the Championship. Jane Doll has even enjoyed being on Einstein as a very special helper. She has had a lot of fun just being herself.


Here are some of her Jane Doll tips:

1. Meet new people.
   
   
2. Explore all the different opportunities at the Championship Event such as Scholarship Row and the Hall of Fame.
   
   
3. Go to the Rookie Meet and Greet hosted by FRC 1511, Rolling Thunder.
   
   
4. Spend time visiting the Pits and looking at the pit setups and talking to teams.
   
   
5. Listen to the speeches. The people giving them are trying to help you grow.
   
   
6. Ask questions and listen to the answers.
   
   
7. Be ready to be a good role model for your community and for next year’s Rookies.
   
   
8. Have a lot of fun.
   
   
9. Always have a buddy with you and make sure your chaperones know where you are.
   
   
10. Be kind and helpful to everyone.

Jane Doll is a doll with a big heart. She cares about FIRST and she cares about you. And so do I.

Jane Y., Mentor for LASA Robotics, FIRST Team #418, and Jane Doll

How do you help other teams, as a rookie/newer team?

Gracious professionalism. A way that all people in all teams should strive to act. It embodies the idea of treating others like you would want others to treat you.

As a younger team, there is little you can do to help other teams. Often times, you might be the team who is in dire need of help to fix the robot before it can go onto the field. The first, and most important thing your team can do, is say thank you and show your appreciation.

After we hosted a workshop to help local teams, the appreciative words said to us after the workshop made us want continue holding the workshops. A rookie team that won Rookie Inspiration at SVR always had a smile of appreciation pasted on their face and kind words to say every time we had helped them throughout the season, making us proud to be affiliated with their team. At the last competition, one of the teams which our team had helped throughout the season went beyond most and gave us a sign thanking us for the help we provided them making us proud to have helped them. Although we were the ones helping these teams, their kind gestures made all the effort we had put in worth it.

Saying thank you and showing appreciation through your gestures can validate and team’s efforts to help you.

In addition, bringing a positive attitude to the table can lighten up the moment and help others enjoy the competition. Often times, older teams might have an end goal and might be so focused on that end goal, they forget it is the process that makes this experience enjoyable. Remind people the results should not determine whether or not the team is having fun, but the process should determine that.

I believe sincerely anyone can exhibit gracious professionalism. The other day, I found this. As I said earlier, the smallest acts can feel validated with a simple thank you: http://www.raiderrobotix.org/2012/04/06/the-greater-reward/

If you are a newer team, or a rookie team, who is able to help other teams. Then it is always great to provide the help you can. However, most new teams are unable to provide substantial help and therefore it is important to bring a positive atmosphere and show your appreciation for others help.

~Nupur, Monta Vista Robotics, FIRST Team 115

Hello Rookies,

I’d like to take a moment to tell you about the upcoming NEMO meeting that will taking place at the Championship Event in St. Louis. Jenny Beatty is one of the founders of this organization and she has worked with her co-founder, Kathie Kentfield, to create a wonderful opportunity for all of the teams at the event. Below is the post that Jenny has made in Chief Delphi regarding the meeting. Please pass this information on to your team’s adult leaders.

See you soon,

Jane Young
Mentor, FRC 418
LASA Robotics
Austin, Texas


“We are delighted to be hosting the 8th NEMO annual meeting at the Championship - Friday April 27 from 10am-noon in Room 280 on the second floor of the America’s Center. NEMO (non-engineering mentor organization) now has over 650 registered members. NEMO is a community of practice, a support group and an information exchange for all mentors (and parents) in FIRST. www.firstnemo.org

As always, the meeting will be open to all adults (post HS age), and all are welcome to come and go as their schedules dictate. We understand everyone will be very busy.

We will be starting the meeting this year with a panel of mentors who have facilitated NEMO meetings and workshops around the country. The goal is talk about what they have been doing, and spread some lessons learned and best practices. We will also have an open discussion for any issues at hand and direct the way to possible resources.

See you there!
Jenny Beatty”

Thank you! SWAT 771 was crucial to getting this site started, and we sincerely appreciate your support. We really enjoyed working with your team to add to our Business page and bolster our fundraising tips. We hope that we can work together more in the future!

You’ve made it to WORLD championships. Take the experience as a way to show off your robot, have fun, and learn as much as you can from teams from all over the globe.

Remember that it is a privilege and a pretty infrequent (hopefully not!) experience to be at, so enjoy it no matter what happens. The team worked hard to get to Championships and should enjoy the opportunity to see so many other robots.

Remember that you can always learn from other robots or be inspired by what the team has done that you could too. Don’t be afraid to socialize and get to know other teams: that’s one thing Championships is great for, socializing and meeting other teams you wouldn’t normally have the chance to.

Let yourself be inspired by all of the amazing speakers and celebrate! Work hard and play hard.

~Girls of Steel, FIRST Team #3504

Scholarship Row at the FIRST Championship is a place for students, parents, and mentors to talk with representatives from some of the colleges, universities, and organizations that offer FIRST Scholarships. Seniors can find out about scholarships that are still available for the coming fall.

This is a great opportunity for juniors and sophomores who are planning for college to talk first-hand to college representatives. And for freshman, it’s never too early to start thinking about college!

In 2012, nearly $15 Million in college scholarships have been made available to FIRST students by 153 Scholarship Providers. Over 40 of these Scholarship Providers will send representatives to the 2012 FIRST Championship in St. Louis on April 26th-27th to participate in Scholarship Row.

~Girls of Steel, FIRST Team #3504

Swag: Bring fun buttons/other “swag” to trade. :) Also, don’t be afraid to ask for help you if you need it! Don’t forget to help other teams out when you can too! Remember, “Gracious Professionalism” -it isn’t much of a competition if everyone can’t compete!

~Wei, Metal Jackets, FIRST Team #2068

Each year at the FIRST Championship Event there are conferences offered on Wednesday night and Thursday of the event! The conferences range from information about “Octocanum: An introduction to a novel hybrid drive system using pneumatics”, to the Chairman’s award, to how to maintain relationships with sponsors.

At the door, a multi-conference pass is $40 dollars and a one-conference pass is $10. The pass is good for anyone on the team — not person specific.

Check out the schedule and abstracts! Pass it around to members on your team and have them come to the presentations - it’s worth the cost of the pass.

~ Renee, Founder and President of GOFIRST, Founder of ACE, Alumni of FRC 1675, Mentor of FRC 3630, 2177, 1675, Non-Engineer Mentor Organization (NEMO) member, and MN Regional Planning Committee Member.

Make some time to explore the pits and talk with other teams about their program, their robot, their outreach - anything at all. One of the biggest inspirations and the best… experiences of FIRST is meeting these wonderful other people with similar passions. There are so many fabulous teams and people out there (all of them, really!), and it’s incredibly interesting and fun to see what makes them all tick.

~Marina, The Flaming Chickens, FIRST Team 1540

There is so much to see and do at Championships: all the other teams, the four fields competing, the Hall of Fame, the FLL and FTC teams, the sponsor booths, scholarship row, the FIRST store, etc. You may not be able to see everything, but at least try. Try to devote some time to exploring.

Talking to the Hall of Fame teams (or any of the other famous teams) can really be inspiring and a helpful learning process. Everyone is willing to share their story, so just ask. The sponsors often have really cool gadgets on display and free stuff. If you are looking towards college, scholarship row is probably a good idea; there are a lot of opportunities.

FIRST also hosts a lot of meetings on a variety of subjects from NEMO to strategy to website design. Check the schedule ahead of time to see what interests you. During some points there are special events that can be a lot of fun, i.e. the Dean’s List presentation of FRC Live with Bill Miller (aka the FRC director and author of Bill’s Blog).

~Rachel, Combustion, FIRST Team 1912.

Announcing the 2012 Rookie Meet and Greet! [And new this year: 2012 Dean’s List Finalist Meet and Greet!]

Who’s Invited: All 2012 Rookie Teams! And 2012 Dean’s List Finalists (and any veterans that want to meet this year’s great rookie teams!)

When: Friday, April 27, from 6:15 to 6:45 pm (Right at the end of matches on Friday!)

Where: To be determined! (Once the Pit / Field Map is Published)

What’s Happening:

****You’ve earned it! You’ve got your ticket to the Main Event! Now join us for a reception that’s for the 2012 Rookies and Dean’s List Finalists in St. Louis!****

• Games to break the ice!
  
  
• Meet & Greet other Rookie Teams! Meet this year’s class of Dean’s List Finalists! Find out what it took for them to get to St. Louis! Share the best of the best!
  
  
• All Rookie Photo Opportunity!
  
  
• Dean’s List Finalist Photo Opportunity!
  
  
• Door Prizes and Giveaways!
  
  
• And best of all – for the Rookies, a chance to win a St. Louis Commemorative Basketball Jersey signed by FIRST Teams from all over the country and some FIRST Celebrities!

****Come and make it the best ever!****

Hosted by Rolling Thunder, FIRST Team 1511, Penfield HS and Harris Corporation. Sponsored by Two Pencil Designs.

Hello to our 3,333 followers! We hope you are enjoying the robotics on this blog and that you are interested by the FIRST organization. It’s awesome — all the FIRST-ers on Tumblr will testify to that.

For rookie or newer teams going to Championships, we highly recommend you print and read this entire document. It’s basically the phonebook of everything you will ever need to know next week! Watch for our Championships FAQ page later this week.

For people would like to see some sweet robots battling it out, check out The Red Alliance on April 26, 27, or 28 between 10am and 4pm for some amazing robotic basketball and balancing matches!

Safety at Championships: Safety is still important. You don’t want your mentors or students needing stitches. Keep your pit clean and make sure people don’t clutter the hall and only essential members are in the pit. Use tools with CAUTION if you think it may be dangerous, chances are you should take it to the machine shop, and pay attention to other teams, especially the one’s who win the daily safety awards. Whatever they’re doing is working for them.

~Gabrielle, Tiger Robotics, FIRST Team #3164

Internationals is huge: You have four fields going on at once with, this year, over 400 FRC teams. That’s not including all the FLL and FTC teams, of which there are countless.

• Championship spacing. Normally the pits are a bit of a walk from the stands for the fields and between there are displays, food stands, meeting rooms, etc. Needless to say, it’s pretty easy get lost or to lose track of your team. Before you leave, create phone card that has every student and mentor’s phone number. That way everyone can get a hold of anyone else.
  
  
• Use the buddy system: try not to move around alone, go with a few others. It’s best if you always leave a few people in the stands and a few in the pit. That way some are scouting and some are talking to fellow teams or judges and working on the bot.
  
  
• Team locations. Also, it is a lot easier if you always know where to find at least some of your team members. Before you get in the dome, establish a few meeting area or times. For example, make sure everyone knows when your team in leaving and where to meet at the end of the day.

~Rachel, Combustion, FIRST Team 1912