Constitution of the Northshore High School Robotics Team
Effective: 8-8-08
Preamble:
We, the students and mentors of the Northshore High School FIRST Robotics Club, Team 1912, Team Combustion, hereby
establish our club for the purpose of enhancing our understanding of math, science, and technology, as well as
spreading our knowledge throughout the community while exercising gracious professionalism.
Administration:
The hierarchy of authority and discipline is as follows:
- Northshore High School Principal
- Teacher Sponsor
- Mentor
- Student
Officers and Teams:
Officers must have at least one year of experience, be in good academic standing (defined as a 2.5 GPA), and must
be elected into office by their fellow students. Other guidelines for candidate eligibility are outlined in the
Officer Candidate Information Packet (see Appendix I). The offices available and their roles are as follows:
Elected Offices: (duties listed are only a rough guide and will be more extensive)
- President: in charge of the planning team, responsible for overall flow and timing of the team, organizes team work schedule, ultimate mediator in disputes, balances the teams for smooth operation
- Vice President: in charge of awards submissions, maintains order at meetings, tracks team member hours
- Secretary: in charge of all communications including but not limited to email, phone, and bulletin board, takes notes at all meetings and publishes them
- Treasurer: in charge of finances, in charge of the parts list for the robot, tracks the team budget and spending, organizes and leads all fundraising
- Historian: in charge of spirit, makes scrapbooks and memorabilia, in charge of website
- Safety Captain: in charge of safety, inventories and maintains organization of all supplies, leads safety training and tracks training completion, conducts random safety inspections
- Strategist: in charge of the game rules and strategies, leads scouting, is the master of the rulebook and ensures the robot is in compliance with those rules, recommends drivers
- Chassis Captain: organizes all work, decisions, and communications from the chassis team
- Controls Captain: organizes all work, decisions, and communications from the controls team
- Challenge Captain: organizes all work, decisions, and communications from the challenge team
Every member must participate on one Build Team and one Support Team.
(Team heads are listed in parentheses after the team.)
Build Teams:
- Challenge Team (challenge captain)
- Chassis Team (chassis captain)
- Controls Team (controls captain)
- Awards Team (vice president)
- Spirit Team (historian)
- Financial Team (treasurer)
- Safety and Training Team (safety captain)
- Strategy Team (strategist)
- Communications Team (secretary)
- Planning and Project Management Team, consists of the officers (president)
- Lego League Team, conducted as a volunteer signup activity (president)
Mentor’s Role:
From the FIRST website:
“FIRST engages thousands of adult Team Mentors and Coaches volunteering with young people ages 6-18. Team Mentors
and Coaches work side-by-side with our FIRST teams to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while
motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, and engineering. They have a variety of
backgrounds, but all share in the FIRST commitment to inspiring in young people, their schools, and communities,
an appreciation of science and technology, and how mastering these can enrich the lives of all. The time needed
for a Team Mentor or Coach will vary with the program selected but generally these positions would require a 6-month
commitment to team support.”
The mentors’ main purpose is to guide students in the proper direction, educate them in advanced concepts, provide
their expert advice, supervise their work, and ensure that they thoroughly explore the FIRST experience. It is not
their job to build the robot. Mentors are also asked to help manage the students’ behavior at build sessions and
during competitions. Their role is more fully explored in the Mentor Contract (see Appendix II)
Parent’s Role:
The role of parents in robotics is to actively support the efforts of mentors and students. Parents are welcome to
become mentors. Additionally, they may participate through the robotics team booster club, whose roles include
assisting with corporate and community fundraising (especially bake sales), organizing the provisioning of snacks
and food throughout the build season, and compiling the travel itinerary for competitions.
Student’s Role:
From the FIRST website:
“FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is a unique varsity sport of the mind designed to help high-school-aged young
people discover how interesting and rewarding the life of engineers and researchers can be. The FIRST Robotics
Competition challenges teams of young people and their mentors to solve a common problem in a six-week timeframe
using a standard “kit of parts” and a common set of rules. Teams build robots from the parts and enter them in
competitions designed by Dean Kamen, Dr. Woodie Flowers, and a committee of engineers and other professionals.”
The students’ role is to gain knowledge from their mentors, to participate actively in building the robot and project
management, and to give back to the community. Students must be self-motivated, dedicated, and enthusiastic. Robotics
is a year-round activity, with the busiest season from January through April.
Hours of Participation:
An entire year of participation on the robotics team is divided into two segments, the Preseason (May-December) and
the Build Period (January-April). A specific number of hours must be attained to attend a specific number of
competitions. Exceptions to these hours are unlikely but may be granted at the sole discretion of the teacher
sponsor in extenuating circumstances.
Regular Students:
To be declared an official member and attend the first regional competition-
- 25 hours in the first half of the 6-week Build Period
- 25 hours in the second half of the 6-week Build Period
- 15 hours in the Preseason
- for a total of 65 hours.
To maintain status as an officer and attend the first regional competition-
- A. 35 hours in the first half of the 6-week build period
- B. 35 hours in the second half of the 6-week build period
- C. 20 hours in the Preseason
- for a total of 90 hours.
Behavior Norms:
From the FIRST website:
“Gracious Professionalism is part of the ethos of FIRST. It’s a way of doing things that encourages high-quality
work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community. With Gracious Professionalism,
fierce competition and mutual gain are not separate notions. Gracious professionals learn and compete like crazy,
but treat one another with respect and kindness in the process. They avoid treating anyone like losers. No chest
thumping tough talk, but no sticky-sweet platitudes either. Knowledge, competition, and empathy are comfortably
blended. In the long run, Gracious Professionalism is part of pursuing a meaningful life. One can add to society
and enjoy the satisfaction of knowing one has acted with integrity and sensitivity.”
Behavior norms apply to all who participate, whether they are students, teachers, or mentors. It is expected that all
members of Team Combustion will follow the norms outlined in the Mentor Contract (see Appendix II) or Student
Contract (see Appendix III).
Severe or repeated violations of these norms by any team member (mentor or student) will be handled as follows
(violations will be determined by the teacher sponsor):
- First offense: warning, asked to leave the session
- Second offense: final warning, asked to leave the session, no hours earned
- Third offense: 3 day suspension from all robotics activities with no hours earned, must submit written explanation of behavior and plans to improve, signed by parents in student cases
- Fourth offense: removed from the team for the duration of the season
