Upcoming Important Dates
2/6/25 – Dean’s List and Woodie Flowers Award Submissions are due.
2/13/25 – Impact Award Submissions are due
2/26/25 – FIRST Day at the statehouse.
FIN FRC Coaches Calls Updates
Over the past few weeks since kickoff, FIN has hosted a couple of FRC Coaches calls. We want to thank the coaches and teams who contributed to these calls, as well as our student board of directors members for lending their voices to the discussions alongside our presenters.
Keeping Students Engaged
Our first call focused on the challenge of keeping students engaged during team meetings. David Ebersol, head coach of 5484 Career Academy, led the discussion. He highlighted their strategy of dividing students into sub-teams with assigned mentors. Students choose their sub-teams, and mentors work closely with these smaller groups to ensure accountability for their tasks, whether it’s working on robot components or preparing awards submissions.
Another effective practice discussed was having a comprehensive agenda for each meeting. During FRC build season, it’s common for teams to have more tasks than time permits. By outlining nightly objectives, students can switch tasks when they feel less engaged, ensuring continuous productivity.
Student leaders also shared insights into their roles within their teams and how they collaborate to maximize engagement during meetings.
Establishing consistent meeting rituals, such as starting with important announcements and sub-team check-ins, and ending with reflections on meeting achievements and tasks for the next day, was also emphasized as beneficial.
If you’d like to view David Ebersol’s presentation slide deck, please email me, Chris Osborne, at cosborne@firstindianarobotics.org.
Dean’s List
Special thanks to FRC 461 mentors Steve Florence and Betsy Baxter for leading our recent call on Dean’s List award submissions. We also appreciate Ashley, Liam, and Hannah from the student board for providing valuable student perspectives.
This call covered the Dean’s List Award criteria:
- Demonstrated leadership and commitment to FIRST Core Values
- Effectiveness in promoting FIRST within their school and community
- Demonstrated passion for long-term involvement in FIRST
- Individual contributions enhancing team success
- Proven expertise in STEM areas (science, technology, engineering, mathematics)
- Role model qualities inspiring fellow team members
We discussed submission deadlines, the essay writing process, interview preparation, and judging procedures in detail.
Key tips from the call included:
- Aligning essay content with the award criteria
- Involving nominees in the nomination process and preparing them for interviews
- Supporting nominees, including those on the drive team or involved in award presentations
- Nominating students annually to recognize their contributions and provide interview practice
- Arranging practice interviews with unfamiliar interviewers to reduce nervousness
- Celebrating nominees with school announcements, local press releases, and social media posts
We briefly discussed students nominating mentors for the Woodie Flowers Award, reiterating similar advice.
Thank you to all participants for sharing best practices, and to our student board members for enriching these calls with their insights.
Look out for upcoming coaches calls in our “Two for Tuesday” email blasts.
Advocacy
Last week an email went out to all FLL, FTC, and FRC teams in Indiana. The topic was around advocacy efforts here in the state to ensure that the $3.5 million for K-12 competitive robotics stays in place. This is a budget year and we need your help to let the legislature know just how important that funding is for our youth.
Emails are OK, but written letters are BETTER!
Step 1. Find your legislator – Find your State Representative and your State Senator. Please make sure NOT to send to your member of Congress, this is a state advocacy effort, not national.
Step 2. Template– Download this document to use as a starting point. Edit to tell your story. Please use your team letterhead or branding to personalize the template.
Step 3. Mail your letter(s).
Indiana Mentor Bridge
FIN Alumni Database
Register your information in the FIN Alumni Database. Our Board of Directors and alumni committee are working on creating networking events, social gatherings, and more for the FIN Alumni community.
