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This Year's Goals

The team will have no injuries during the 2011 – 2012 build season. The team will accomplish this by implementing safety trainings both at build garages and the engineering site. Students will nominate a safety captain who will organize the training sessions and ensure the team meets all safety guidelines during build an competition phases. The team will also create safety give-aways at competition to emphasize making safety a priority for the team.

The team will apply for the Chairmen's Award at the Lonestar Regional. The team will appoint an adult mentor to coordinate the submission and form a group of two students to prepare material for the application. These students will catalogue the different club activities during the year. The students will also compile a video showcasing some of the highlights from the year. New student positions will be created to emphasize the team's community outreach programs.

The team will repeat its winning traditions in imagery, sportsmanship, and team spirit with the goal of winning the imagery and/or team spirit award at both regionals. The Vice President of Public Relations will work with the Public Relations mentor to create new mascot uniforms for the team, team cheers, and team give-aways. This will include two brand new mascots and an update to the old uniform. The VP of PR will work to secure sponsorship from JeromeRussell the corporation that manufactures the team's hairspray. The PR mentor will secure additional capes, noisemakers, and props with the help of the team. The team will also update the pit backdrop and literature to better reflect the current status of the team. Without sacrificing performance, the team's robot will be designed to integrate the team's colors and image.

The team will help start and mentor another FRC team within the Katy, Texas school system. Students will contact school faculty and administrators at Morton Ranch High school to gauge interest in the program. Students under the guidance of the VP of PR will organize a membership social for the school. The award mentor will help the team leaders apply for funding. The President and VP of Communications will keep the Morton Ranch team informed of all build sessions and training events during the year.

The team will create a systematic method to ensure better student communication and better link the student club to the adult booster club and mentors. A student poll last year showed that 100% of students felt that communication among team members was at an unacceptable level. At the end of the year a similar poll will be taken with the goal of 90% of students responding that club communication was good or better. The students will create a VP of communications position to handle this endeavor. The students will create a mass email list at club meetings and roundup events. This list will be the official means of communication. The VP of Communications will tabulate all information to be sent on a weekly basis. All information will be funneled through the VP of Communication to avoid redundant and contradictory information. The faculty sponsor will obtain a bulletin board to be placed prominently in the school. This bulletin board will be maintained by the faculty sponsor and VP of communications. The VP of communication will also ensure that school meetings are advertised during school announcements and via signs. The faculty sponsor will serve as a facilitator to coordinate information between the adult mentors and student participants in the group. A team of students will be assembled to create a website with a calendar to list all club activities and deadlines. Finally a Facebook group will be started by the VP of Communication as a secondary means of communication and publicity.

The team will increase student leadership by redefining and updating the duty of different elected officials to more adequately address the current needs of the club. The outgoing elected officers with the aid of the faculty sponsor will make the following changes to the club officer structure: PR captain will be changed to Vice President of PR and placed in charge of the chairman's award submission and all PR captains. Build captain will be changed to Vice President of Build and placed in charge of the overall design of the robot and the other build captains. Secretary will be changed to Vice President of Communications and given new responsibilities as already listed. Grade level representatives will be appointed responsibilities to aid the VP of PR (Publicity Captain, Community Service Captain, and Recruitment Captain). The outgoing officers will present this proposal to the club and modified as necessary to obtain a majority approval. The success and duties of each position will be reviewed at the end of the year for further improvement.

The students will increase the size of the club from 45 active members to 50 active members. The newly elected publicity and recruiting captains will work to increase sophomore and freshman matriculation. Build captains, with the help of the mentors and faculty sponsor, will arrange summer and fall training schedules to educate and keep new members active. The recruitment captain will follow up with students who apply for club membership, but are inactive prior to build season. The VP of Communication will ensure that all new members receive emails concerning current robotics events. The recruitment captain and a set of team members will attend various "club night" and preview night events to promote the club. Members will take a more active role in promoting non-build roles to increase club diversity.

Using the standards for the FIRST Website award as a guide, the team will create a fully functioning website. A team of at least three students will be assembled and an adult mentor selected. A timeline for completing the site will be made with the help of the faculty sponsor. The site must effectively communicate events and information to both team members and visitors to the site. In addition the site must accentuate the team's winning image and style. The website should be useful as a PR and communication tool.

The team will design and build a competitive robot that earns a spot in the finals of at least one regional. The team will continue its successful partnership with mentors to build highly functional and aesthetically pleasing robots. In addition the team will hold training sessions over the summer and the fall to improve student skill and increase interaction time with mentors. The students will engage in a longer prototyping stage between the announcement of the game challenge and the beginning of the robot design. The students will build both a competition and a prototype robot in order to increase the amount of time that they have to work on the robot. A dedicated programming mentor will be appointed to focus on the new programming language and new controller.