Even if you have been involved in past years, you will need to register as a mentor again for this season.

Welcome to PCHS Robotics latest season, "Game Changers."

What do we do?

PCHS Robotics participates in FIRST Tech Challenge, an international competitive robotics program

To learn more about FIRST Tech Challenge and other FIRST Robotics Programs, click here.

What are the benefits?

FIRST Tech Challenge teams get to:

• Design, build, and program robots
• Apply real-world math and science concepts
• Develop problem-solving, collaboration, and team-building skills
• Build and become strong leaders
• Understand and practice Gracious Professionalism™
• Cooperate and compete in alliances at tournaments
• Compete for awards on and off the field
• Participate in a tiered competition that culminates at the FIRST Championship
• Qualify for over $16 million in college scholarships
• Have fun!

Is there travel this season?

• This season is expected to have some opportunity for travel.
• Parents will work with teams to determine whether or not the team will attend competitions.
• Parents must provide transportation to and from events.
• Parents must provide hotel, food & supervision for their students at out-of-town events.
• The club is not responsible for any aspect of student supervision at out-of-town events.
• Students must inform their parents of events.

What is the time committment?

The Robotics season begins in early September with the Kickoff. Here's what you can expect:

• The season lasts from September through March or April, depending on team success.
• The exact full club meeting schedule has not been determined.
• During normal years, the entire club meets after school once each week throughout the season, however, we may not do that this year.
• Teams generally meet 2-5 days per week.

Health Considerations

• Students & mentors will wear masks when in the Robotics facilities.
• Some educational opportunities will be offered remotely.
• The number of students working in the Robotics spaces will be limited.
• Students not participating in robotics will not be allowed in the robotics spaces.

Mentors

There are 3 types of mentors in PCHS Robotics Club:

• Team Mentors
• Parent Supervisors
• Specialist Mentors

Every team must have at least one parent mentor, and every team must provide at least one additional supervisor for club activities. It is the responsibility of the team to provide at least one team mentor.

Requirements for Parent Supervisors:

• Parent supervisors attend club one day at least every two weeks in order to supervise students.
• Parent supervisors will coordinate with club leadership to gain club facilities access.
• Parent supervisors will ensure that club rules are followed and students behave according to the Code of Conduct.
• Parent mentors must guide their teams according to FIRST requirements.

Requirements for Team Mentors:

• Parent mentors must attend to work with their team at least one day per week when their team is working
• Parent mentors must work with club leaders to ensure team members attend any needed training sessions
• Parent mentors must attend one hour Mentor Meetings approximately once every 2 weeks to maintain current FTC knowledge.
• At times, parent mentors may be asked to supervise (monitor) other teams when mentoring their own team.

Requirements for Specialist Mentors

• Specialist mentors work with teams to ensure that they are prepared in specific aspects of FTC work.
• Specialist mentors work with team captains and team mentors to determine the best way to ensure the teams receive necessary training and support in their areas of specialization.

Mentors must:

• Comply with our Code of Conduct & Club Rules
• Ensure that any students that you are mentoring or supervising comply with the Code of Conduct & Club Rules
• Report to Sheri or Matt Prucka any serious violations of these rules.

Every participating student will have acceptanced of our Code of Conduct and agreed to abide by club rules. Students who violate these policies may be barred from participation in the club or otherwise penalized.

FTC SPECIALISTS:

We need some mentors to serve as specialists to provide specialized knowledge to all of the teams in the club. Specialists may meet with the entire club or individual teams depending on the topic and need. They also may need to communicate with the club by email, Slack, or another method as needed to ensure all teams are well informed on scheduling or the specialized subject. Specialists are needed in the following areas:

• Judging (FIRST judging process)
• Engineering Notebook (These are electronic and maintained in PCHS Robotics Google drive Team Areas.
• Outreach (Help teams participate in a variety of opportunities to share FIRST with the community and other students. There is quite a bit of scheduling to do in this case. We keep a PCHS Robotics calendar. which must be maintained.
• Fundraising for the club. (Generally, money raised by teams goes to support the club)
• Hardware design/CAD (Autodesk Inventor and other tools are generally used. Prototyping and development process skills helpful)
• Software development (Java using Android Studio are used)