FIRST Mentor Life
Articles on how to run a FIRST robotics team and not lose your mind by mentors from the FIRST community.
Organization
Good organization means a more efficient team. Tips to maximize your team’s organizational processes and structure.
Financial
Non-Profit finance is complicated, especially if not familiar with 501(c)3 reporting and record-keeping experience
Community Building
To meet the goals of your mission and you need partners in your community. Creating effective relationships requires a concerted effort.
Communications
Internal and external communications can smooth the path for your efforts and help you to to communicate your message and meet your goals.
Outreach
Community outreach is the cornerstone of building the FIRST community. How can you maximize your intent and outcomes?
Mental Health
FIRST is the hardest fun and student or mentor can have. It can be exhausting, but also equally rewarding. Let’s talk about self care!
About FIRST Mentor Life
The three of us found ourselves answers a lot of the same questions and answering them over and over. Coming together, we thought there must be a better format than answering the same questions over and over in various forums. Our answer was this repository of articles.
Over the years, Wendy, Joyce and Elise have each served as both mentors and team leads of Hall of Fame 1902 Exploding Bacon founded in 2006.
Building this community team and assisting others in their journey has provided us with a wide array of experience that we have found has also consistently benefitted other teams.
Upcoming Events
FIRST Championship 2022 WORKSHOP
How to run a Sustainable FIRST robotics team and not lose your mind.
Running a youth development organization these days includes a lot of moving parts: complex and challenging issues that can be stressful. Whether you are a veteran/rookie mentor or a team parent, you can always use some inspiration along the way. This workshop will provide some non-technical practical tips and takeaways to improve your team’s efficiency and effectiveness. All three presenters come with years of practical team leadership experience from all levels of FIRST. They will share relatable challenges and the solutions they implemented that made their experiences more enjoyable.
Mark your calendar to join us….
Friday, April 22, 2022 | 10:30am – 11:20pm | Room Location: 310 C
Recent Articles
2023 FIRST Mentoring Conference
Thank you for joining us at the 2023 FIRST Mentoring Conference Survive and Thrive Workshops. If you have any questions, please email Elise at elise@liseydreams.com or Wendy at wendy@firstinspires.org. We would love to hear your key take aways and/or if there are...
Champs 23
Thank you for joining us at the 2023 FIRST Championship Survive and Thrive Workshops. Below is a link to the slides from the Survive and Thrive workshops presented at the 2023 FIRST Championship. If you have any questions. You can email Elise at...
What is FIRST Team Branding?
Your team branding is simply what makes your team YOU! This could include team colors, a mascot, your uniform, your team's mission and/or values. It is that extra special zest that makes you stand out as memorable in your community, to the judges, and other teams. Why...