Summertime!

Well, I let a couple of weeks get away from me, but getting my classroom packed up, and end of the year grades, along with the graduation of my daughter and her graduation party this weekend has kept me very busy.  I will catch up on what has been going on in robotics the past few weeks.  

We have been busy getting kids signed up for teams for next year.  We have been recruiting K-12 graders to participate in one of the FIRST programs at our school.  At this point, we have 95 kids signed up for K - 8th grade programs and 40 signed up for the high school team.  We will be expanding our junior high FTC teams from 2 to 3 for sure, and probably 4 teams.  This is very exciting!  I'm happy to see this growth so early in our registration window.  

Last week, we had a coaches meeting and training session.  We have a few new coaches who have volunteered to coach.  I am excited to see them be a part of our program.  Our JFLL numbers look really good, and we have 6 Bedford Express kids that have volunteered to coach at this time.  So, things are shaping up well for our teams for next year.  Most teams are filling up quickly, and we are looking for more coaches to come on board. 

We have also opened registration for our summer camps.  This year, we will be having camps for K-8th graders.  The camp will be one week long with K-3rd graders in the morning, and 4th - 8th graders in the afternoon. The camps will teach them the basics of programming and building, along with some beginning research on this year's topics.  We opened the registration up at the end of May and are doing very well with the numbers so far.  We are hoping to have 10 per session, and are over halfway there for each.  

This week, we will begin preparing for our off-season event.  We will practice each evening this week, and then we will compete this weekend.  We will be training new drivers, so any team member that wants to see what is involved with driving the robot can come and learn how to drive this week.  Then they will get to drive for at least one of our matches this weekend.  That is always a fun time.   There is a lot of pressure on drivers, and it is great to figure out if you like it or not in a less stressful environment.  

We will also begin to look at rearranging our center this week.  We need to better utilize space, build some shelving units, and decorate it a little better.  It is exciting to watch the growth, and see how our center is thriving.  

Behind the scenes, I am still working to get approval for our school district to host the district event.  It has been a bumpy road, but I think we are getting closer.  Last week, I thought we had it finalized, and I announced that it was official, only to find out that there were some changes on both sides which took us back a step after the fact.  So, hopefully soon I will be able to make a REALLY official announcement, but until then, I will just keep pushing for this program in our district.  Hopefully it will all work out.  Seems like I am banging my head against the wall at times, but I'm not giving up on it! :)  

Transitions

Tonight we held our first leadership meeting with our new captains and co-captains.  Due to the growth of our team, we have expanded to 3 captains, and 3 co-captains.  They are already starting with some great ideas for our team.  I am really looking forward to working with them.  It is an exciting time.

We worked our reviewing our handbook and varsity letter requirements.  A few tweaks here and there did the trick.  We talked about what is working and what needed to change.  Again, more great ideas.  I am not going to reveal them all yet, because I want my captains to be able to break out their ideas to the team, but I cannot wait to share them.

We discussed which events we wanted to attend next year, ideas for worlds,and the conflict our marching band kids will have if we qualify for worlds.  Every four years our marching band travels to march at Disney World.  But, it was decided that if we qualify, we will go to worlds.  So, if we make it to worlds, we will be going with about half of our team.  This will be an important factor in our driver try-out procedure this year.

Our outgoing captains didn't leave us hanging.  While we were discussing next year, they were busy putting some final touches on our summer camp program.  We are hosting, for the second year, 2 summer camps.  One will be in the mornings for JFLL aged kids, and one in the afternoon for FLL/FTC aged kids.

We put our 2013-2014 applications out early this year, and are very excited that we already have 7 new applicants for our team, and 62 applicants for our JFLL, FLL, FTC programs.  Last year, we hadn't even opened them yet by this time.  Thursday we will host an information night for anyone wanting to find out information on K-12 FIRST robotics programs in our school district, or elsewhere!

Finally, we may be one step closer toward hosting our Bedford District Event this year!  I am hoping for more good news or an official announcement soon!

Transitions are always a tough time.  It is so sad to not have our seniors, but so I am so excited for their graduation ceremony on Sunday.  At the same time, it is so exciting to hear the ideas of the new leaders who are stepping into their moment to lead us to our next great adventure with this outstanding program.

This year is especially tough because my youngest daughter is graduating.  This coming season will be the first year in my 13 previous years of coaching, that one of my daughter's will not be a student on my team.  I am so thankful that the 13 years of FIRST robotics that they have been exposed to has led them to have a strong desire to stay a part of FIRST experience!  It will definitely be a different experience without them here!  Some things I am looking forward to ("she only got that because she is the coach's daughter", anger at me taken out on my kids), and somethings I will greatly miss (the opportunity to participate in the program together with them, seeing them work so hard to make our team strong, watching their excitement, seeing FIRST robotics impact their lives in such a positive way).   I also know that though they are not students on my team anymore, they will both be heavily involved in FIRST Robotics!   I know that this program will help me survive my new "Empty Nest" which I will be experiencing soon, and will help them survive their college and life experiences ahead of them.  It is just one more transition that will offer new and wonderful chapters in our lives.  

I Get Knocked Down... But I Get Up Again

This week has been a fighting week.  We are trying to convince our school district to allow us to host our FRC event next year.  This year, for the first time ever, we hosted a FIRST in Michigan District Event.  It ran smoothly.  It was exciting to see the competition on our home turf!   But, it was held over spring break.  Teachers, Administrators, and most importantly  students, were unable to see the event.  So, when it came time to get permission for this year, I have been told that we can only host it on "vacation" years.  Since Easter Break is during World's, that will not work for us.

When I received that email from my superintendent, I was ready to give up the fight.  A month and a half of emails going back and forth, eliminating road blocks that were thrown at us one by one, has made me very tired of fighting.  13 years of fighting for our district robotics kids to be treated the same as any other athlete or program has worn on me.  Was it time to throw in the towel and accept that we could not host this year?

I only had to look to my team for my answer.  Did my team give up when our robot fell off the top of the pyramid and landed in a smoking mess on the floor?  Nope!  They went right to work, replaced wires, remade parts, fixed broken welds, and they put the robot back together.  It climbed again, only a few matches after they came back from the fall.  And, on Saturday morning, it made a successful climb and dump!

Today it was time for me to get back up!  Though my superintendent is "disappointed" in me, I will keep my eyes focused on my students, my school district, and my community, and I will continue to work on fixing this wrong!  Sometimes I get discouraged, but my students, friends, family,  FIRST Community, parents of students, and awesome mentors quickly remind me to keep going!

This week, I was trying for a week off of robotics, a week to refresh my outlook, to catch up on all I've neglected the past 4 months.  I did pretty good.  Other than some emails about our event, I didn't go to the center!  Can't think of the last time I wasn't at the center for a whole week! :)

But, this past week was full of robotics.  We awarded 3 students with our first ever $500 scholarships for our FIRST Robotics Graduates, our Relay for Life team raised over $4,000 for the American Cancer Society, and my team reminded me that when you fall down, you have to get back up again!   So, overall, it has been a great robotics week!  I don't know that it is a possibility to go a week without any FIRST robotics, but I don't mind that very much either!

I am not giving up on our event!  Our interim superintendent only has a little longer in this position.  If we cannot convince him, we will have a fresh start with a new superintendent soon.  My hope is that our current superintendent will come around, that he will realize what an asset this event is to everyone.  We will "Make it Loud" and be heard, if needed!  And, hopefully, we will be proudly hosting our own event again next year in front of our teachers, administrators, community and the peers of my team.

Thanks to all of you that helped me "get back up again"!  Thanks especially to my team, who often lead me by example. :)

Where Does Time Go?

A little over a year ago, I started this blog to try to record what is involved with coaching my FRC team.  I guess I failed miserably.   Though, it may show that it keeps me busy, I am no closer to chronicling what is involved on a day to day basis.  My hope is that I can provide a road map for my successor. :)   (and anyone else who happens to find the information useful)  So, this year, I have set a goal to try to write at least one post a week, reviewing what has happened from the coaching side.

May is our transition month.  We held our banquet last Thursday, and our new student leadership was announced.  Our team is growing.  Each year we seem to change our leadership structure a little and this year is no exception.  We have tried many different things, but this coming year, we have decided to have 3 captains and 3 co-captains make up our leadership council.

Also, at our banquet, we announced that we have started 4 scholarships for BX graduates.  This is something I have been working on for a number of years.  I am very excited that we have finally been able to bring this to the kids.  Each scholarship will be a one-time award of $500.  I have been very busy with banquet and scholarship stuff this week.

On Friday, we held our 2nd annual bowl-a-thon for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life.  Our team bowled to raise money for our Relay team, the Google Express.   So far this year, we have raised $3,100 for the American Cancer Society.  We aren't done yet.  I was impressed at the bowl-a-thon when my newly elected captains came up to me at the bowl-a-thon with an idea they had for next year.   Can't wait to work with them and learn their vision for this coming year.


As hard as it is to see one year wind down, it is very exciting to hear the passion of a new class of students.  I can't wait to see what 2014 holds for my team, AND for my graduates! Next week, my goal is to do NO robotics.  There are very few weeks when I actually reach this goal, but it isn't because I HAVE to do things, it's because I want to!  There is nothing more rewarding than seeing the smiles on your team's faces when they see their ideas come to life!  2014, here we come!

One Giant Leap...

About this time 12 years ago I was approached by my sister who works for the Dana Corporation.  She had recently been transferred back to the area to manage a local plant, while I was teaching elementary school and leading a robotics enrichment cluster.  She proposed a joint venture with Dana Corporation and Bedford Public Schools, agreeing to fund a FIRST Lego League Robotics team if I would coach it.

Who knew back then that 12 years later I would be standing before the school board, pleading a case to have the gymnasium of the very school I attended as a child and taught at for many years, for a FIRST robotics center.  Smith Road Elementary School was sadly closed this year due to budget cuts and has been mostly vacant since last June.

 The Superintendent granted my team use of the gym this year so we could have the high ceilings needed for our basketball challenge.  For 10 years, the BHS team has lived out of a storage area, having to haul all of the equipment out on a daily basis for practice.  For the first time ever, we were able to set up our field and leave it set up.  The benefits our team saw were huge, and we decided we wanted to keep the gym year round.  You see, while our official season runs from January through April, we coach, mentor and support programs for younger students year round.  We weren't the only ones with our eyes on it though and it wasn't easy to come by.

Last Thursday, almost a year after I proposed the gym be given to the robotics team, the Senior Citizen Center made a proposal to the school board asking them to allow SRE to become the new senior center.  They have outgrown their current facility and were looking forward to more space about as much as we were enjoying our new space.  We decided to attend the board meeting to plead our own case for the space.  My captains spoke up.  I was very proud of my captains as they told the board how important it was to keep the gym space for a robotics center.  They are seniors, so they really have nothing to gain by this center, but they want to keep the program growing.  When it was my turn to speak, my voice got shaky, my body got shaky, it was hard to get through my speech.   I've spoken before large groups of people and never been so nervous, I guess I just wanted it for my team that much.  The board listened!  They heard what we were saying and they did not approve the initial senior proposal.  A small step for us. 

This week, administration met with the senior administration and us and we were thankfully able to work out a deal to share the facility.  The Senior Center will take over a large portion of the school, but we will be able to keep the gym year round!  One Giant Leap.... for Bedford Express, for Bedford FIRST robotics, for area youth wanting to learn about science, math and technology, for bridging a gap between seniors and public schools, for us all!

Though we awaited final board approval tonight, the wait is now over.  The school board, the administration, the community recognized this FIRST robotics program with this amazing first, a space dedicated to us!  FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science & Technology) Robotics has been a part of my life for the past 12 years, but today our program took One Giant Leap!