Welcome to Pearadox 2020 2021 FRC Team 5414

Welcome to Pearadox 2020 -2021 FRC Team 5414 Presentation available at pearadox 5414. org

What to expect from this presentation ● Lots of unknowns going into the remaining summer, fall, maybe even spring ● Everything about this summer/fall/next year will be atypical The competition is repeating the 2020 challenge ● We want to provide the best onboarding experience as we can, your patience is appreciated ● Want to provide background of what’s typical vs what we know is different ● Included * for things that are typical but we know won’t be true this upcoming year ○

What is FRC? ● FRC: FIRST Robotics Competition FIRST: For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology ● More than just robots! ● Function as a small business ○ Public Relations/Imagery ○ Business Plan ○ Strategy ○ Essay writing ○ Budgeting ○ Photography/Videography ○ $80 Mill available in scholarships ● 6 weeks to build/design/test a robot ● New game every year* ● FIRST Promo Video ● “Best of” compliation ○

What is Pearadox ● More than just a robotics team “Robot is the campfire” ● Year-round program ○ Outreach, training, demonstrations, projects ● Get out what you put in ○ Have contributing team members that are also in band, tennis, theater, debate, choir, swim – but have to manage time carefully and occasionally miss opportunities (travel competitions, special demonstrations, etc) ○ Most involved students put in 15 -20 hours a week in build season ■ 38 students > 15 hr/week Jan 5 -Feb 17 ■ 18 students > 20 hr/week Jan 5 -Feb 17 ○ Selection for travel/special opportunities based largely on # of hours (with engagement during meetings a possible factor) ■ Seniority will probably start to come into play ● Program goals ○ Drive STEAM opportunities for students at all levels in the district ○ Engage underserved and underrepresented in STEAM ○ Prepare students for post-high school ○

Success last 2 school years ● In the 2018/2019 & 2019/2020 school year Pearadox ○ ○ ○ Demonstrated at the Comicpalooza, Maker. Faire, Houston Rockets and other local demonstrations 2019 game: ■ semifinals (1 x), finals (2 x) ■ Advanced to the world championship division finals ■ Deans List, Engineering Inspiration, Autonomous Award (x 2), Excellence in Engineering 2020 game: ■ Finals ■ Engineering Inspiration ■ Chairmans award (judged virtual for competition that was otherwise canceled) Engineering Inspiration Award ■ “Celebrates outstanding success in advancing respect and appreciation for engineering within a team’s school and community. ” Chairmans Award ■ “The Chairman’s Award is the most prestigious award at FIRST, it honors the team that best represents a model for other teams to emulate and best embodies the mission of FIRST” Playoff alliance captain numerous times

Successes continued ● College Scholarships ○ Students have gotten more than $60 k+ worth of FIRST specific scholarships ○ Some students have gotten full-rides and say Pearadox was instrumental in preparing and developing them into good candidates Several students received offers of scholarships to deferred colleges due to Dean’s list and/or FIRST experience ● Job placements ○ ○ We’ve had 5 students intern/co-op at NASA JSC due to Pearadox ○ Roughly 30% of our consistent team members have been employed by a sponsor over the years

Major calendar events* ● June: Texas Robotics Invitational ● ● ● ○ Offseason event (scrimmage) ○ New members encouraged to get a ride and attend from ~10 -12 on Saturday ○ Welcome to be there anytime from 8 -6 ○ Located at Strake Jesuit 8900 Bellaire Blvd, Houston, TX 77036 July 15 -26: Pear Camp support requested Mock Kickoff in late October Early Nov (Date TBD): Remix (offseason scrimmage) Dec 7 th? : Christmas parade Generally, meetings every Sat for summer/fall ○ Calendar here

Spring calendar ● First Saturday of the new year: Kickoff ○ New game announced ○ Note: School doesn’t start until Jan 7 th. We would have important meetings Jan 2 -7 th ● Feb 15 th: unofficially (now) our goal date of a finished robot ● There’s about 26 hrs of scheduled meeting time every week (broken down next slide), but it’s OK if students have to miss meetings ○ ● 2+ “District events” in March/April ● District Championship (if qualified) mid April ● World Championship (if qualified) late April

Expectations of Students ● ● ● Grades up! ○ ○ Safety Attendance* ○ ○ ○ ● ● We’ll adhere to UIL rules for grades/competitions If grades are not UIL-eligible, you can’t attend meetings/competitions/etc until eligible If grades are UIL-eligible, students can work on homework at meetings This past year, we had study hours available from after school until meeting time We’ll meet every Sat/Sun from for the first 6 weeks of the new year ■ Probably every weekend between Feb 20 and end of April. We typically meet every Mon/Weds/Fri from 5 -9 PM Saturday meetings are typically 9 -6 and Sunday meetings are typically 1 -6 The weekend meetings are the most important, as the most work gets done then. Buses run from Pearland Dawson to Turner for weekday meetings, and we typically can have study hours from 3 -5 at Turner We know and recognize many students are involved in many things. Lower participation may limit how a student can contribute – especially at competition Active Engagement Respect for teachers, mentors, and fellow team members ○ All here for the same goal and volunteering our time ● There will be a code of conduct for parents and students to sign soon-ish ● SELF > FAMILY > SCHOOL > ROBOTICS

Expectations of Students ● TIGERS ○ Team Improvement, Growth, and Education Records ○ available to fill out on website too (http: //pearadox 5414. weebly. com/TIGERs. html) These help us keep track of all the awesome things our team members do ● Volunteering in PISD* ○ 5+ hrs per student mentoring a jr high or middle school robotics team. This may increase ● Clean your area before leaving ● We try to end meetings at the scheduled time. In return, I ask that you don’t ask your student to leave 15 min early (that’s the crucial cleaning time) ○ ○ Sometimes meetings may run late if student desire to finish a job

Varsity Letter Jackets ● To qualify for a varsity letter in robotics, students need to accumulate 100 points total from the following things. If you think you meet the requirements, please be sure to discuss with the Robotics teacher at your school ○ Actively participate at a regional/district qualifying competition (5 points per competition) ○ Actively participate at a state FRC championship competition (10 points per competition) ○ Actively participate at a FRC Worlds Championship (20 points per competition) ○ Logging at least 40 hours for community outreach event/and or peer mentoring, which falls outside of regular school day (25 points per year) ○ Logging at least 40 hours of attendance at meetings outside of the regular school day, during school year (25 points per year)

What to expect from the program ● This is not a class ○ ○ Students may get very different experiences depending on what they desire to work on and ability to troubleshoot problems independently Team efforts aren’t “homework”. ■ ○ Robot design, business plans, and award essay submissions are more ‘real life’ in that they aren’t graded simply for meeting some set of minimum requirements “showing up” doesn’t automatically lead to high performance ■ students need some of their own discipline and initiative.

What to expect from the program ● There are lots of moving parts to our team ○ Students that are able to work independently and come to mentors for assistance will be the ones who learns the most ○ There is ALWAYS something to do that’s beneficial to the team, though it is not always the most exciting ○ The more parents that can help out and be involved, the more it allows our mentors and teachers to focus specifically on the skills they bring to the team ○ There is a lot to take in a first year. Even very involved members/mentors may take a year to really get everything to “click”

What to expect from the program ● Summer/Fall and Spring are very different ○ Students ARE NOT expected to know robotics or what they want to do ○ There’s less designing/building during the fall. Largely due to financial limitations, but also partially due to time ○ Offseason generally is more preparing and team outreach ○ Being displaced from the robotics room for the summer ○ Spring is generally a lot of building and competitions

Expected costs ● Bus/Hotel/food costs for competition: ○ ○ $50 for competitions without hotels Estimated $150 -300 for events with hotels within driving distance ● Lunch money for long Saturdays meeting: ○ ○ ~$125 for meals/snacks/drinks Money goes towards snacks, drinks, napkins, in addition to meals Cheaper and safer option than having students leave. Can opt to bring your own lunch as well. ● New students: ○ ○ Purchase of 3 team shirts (Thurs/Fri/Sat shirts). ~$40/polo, ~$15 x 2/t-shirt Safety Goggles – ~$5 (be sure to get ANSI approved) ● Veteran students: ○ Purchase of 1 team shirt (Fri) – approximately $15 ● Occasional special events have costs associated ● For the year: ~$500 -1000 for the year for apparel, meals, and travel to competitions ● Please don’t let costs be a reason to not join the club. We try to have 1 fundraiser* that any funds raised can offset travel costs. Additionally talk to booster club as needed if finances are the limiting factor in participating on the team ○ Other fundraisers possible – sell raffle tickets for a items, car wash, etc.

Things to do ● Sign up on slack (students more so than parents – but parents welcome too!) ● School field trip paperwork available on Dr Myers (Turner) teacher website ● STIMS (student team information management system) ○ Need to have students on the roster to attend competitions – reduces paperwork for everyone if you can sign them up via STIMS online (requires student and parent). ○ System improved this past year, requires both student and parent emails ○ https: //my. firstinspires. org/stims/ - (opens late September)

Ways parents can help ● Pick up our kit of parts (likely from Katy, but maybe from other location) ● Lunch Committee ● Fundraising (would your company support our non-profit? ) ○ Team Registration is ~$14, 000 ○ Robot & tool expenditures ~$15, 000+ Offseason parts & tools expenditures ~$5, 000 Tutoring Volunteering (such as field building, monitoring tool use, business plan, imagery, robot)* CDL/Bus Driver? * Receipt collection and logging (Saturdays during build season) ○ ● ●

Fundraising things ● Amazon Smile ○ Add Pearland Robotic Booster Organization ○ Must shop at Amazon smile Your prices don’t change, but amazon donates 0. 5% of your purchase to us ● Randals ○ Unsure, but I think you can search and add Pearland Robotic Booster Organization ● Krogers ○ Pearland Robotic Booster organization or use Alternate ID of 281 5414 ● Several companies financially support non-profits – ask if yours does! Contact Andrew Hartnett (via pearlandfrc@gmail. com) to get the necessary information to apply if your company does. ● We’ve done things like game night, car wash, raffle – but need parent support to make those things happen ○

What’s next? ● Go to our website: http: //pearadox 5414. weebly. com/join. html and follow instructions there to complete student and parent surveys ● Start attending meetings* ○ Generally meeting Saturdays via zoom Try to keep http: //pearadox 5414. weebly. com/calendar. html up to date ● Attend Texas Robotics Invitational* ○

Motivations: Interests Is Pearadox for me? I think robots are neat Speaking to others (judges/VIP/guests) about Pearadox Promoting STEM/Reaching underserved & underprivileged/having an impact on our community culture Demonstrating/teaching younger students The following slides are the responses from veteran students as to what their motivations are for joining. Graphic Design/Media/Photography/Videography robotics competitions programming designing machining & building 0% Big factor/(agree a lot) small factor/(agree a little) 10% not a factor/(still agree) 20% 30% 40% Neutral/(no opinion) 50% 60% 70% 80% Not True for me/(disagree) 90% Unsure 100%

Opportunities Is Pearadox for me? I already have friends on the team being part of a team in general working with industrial professionals making friends with teammates and members from other teams team and shop resources team bonding traveling and overnight events 0% Big factor/(agree a lot) small factor/(agree a little) 10% 20% not a factor/(still agree) 30% 40% 50% Neutral/(no opinion) 60% 70% 80% Not True for me/(disagree) 90% Unsure 100%

Future Is Pearadox for me? to promote personal growth to help prepare me for a career to help prepare me for college to go into an engineering or STEM field to enhance my college application/resume to be eligible for college scholarship money 0% Big factor/(agree a lot) 10% small factor/(agree a little) 20% 30% 40% not a factor/(still agree) 50% 60% Neutral/(no opinion) 70% 80% Not True for me/(disagree) 90% Unsure 100%

Satisfaction Is Pearadox for me? I think I will make the team better/stronger I want to feel like I'm a part of something bigger than myself I like being competitive with my peers Working hard is satisfying/rewarding I like being able to be useful and do useful things the pursuit of excellence is satisfying/rewarding Winning events sounds satisfying/rewarding 0% Big factor/(agree a lot) small factor/(agree a little) 10% 20% 30% not a factor/(still agree) 40% 50% Neutral/(no opinion) 60% 70% 80% Not True for me/(disagree) 90% Unsure 100%

Misc Is Pearadox for me? I don't really know, I'm just trying it I wanted to be a part of something and robotics seems fine My parents expect/want me to Sounds like fun 0% Big factor/(agree a lot) small factor/(agree a little) 10% 20% 30% not a factor/(still agree) 40% 50% Neutral/(no opinion) 60% 70% 80% Not True for me/(disagree) 90% Unsure 100%