Constitution of the NHS Robotics Team

Effective: 8-8-08

Revised: 1-5-11

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: maintains order at meetings
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 the website and award submissions
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

Appointed Offices: (while outgoing captains recommend their replacements, the ultimate decision is made by the teacher sponsor)

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
CAD Design Captain: organizes all work, decisions, and communications from the design team
CAD Animation Captain: organizes all work, decisions, and communications from the animation team

*Students cannot hold any two captain and/or administrative positions during the same year.

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)
CAD Design Team (CAD Design Captain)
CAD Animation Team (CAD Animation Captain)

Support Teams:

Awards Team (historian)
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.

Club Dues:
In order to be declared an official member, students must pay a $25 dollar club fee to the Teacher Sponsor and meet hour requirements before and during the build season.

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.

Officers:
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.

15 additional hours per competition must be obtained to attend any additional regional or national competitions. 10 of those hours can be acquired from work during a previous competition for the purpose of attending the national convention.

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

Revisions to the Constitution:
Any and all changes to the constitution must be approved by a majority of student officers and a teacher sponsor.