Articles
A FIRST team or any youth development team is a complicated organism. There are many aspects that go into the management of a team and the moving parts vary greatly depending upon the team’s structure, environment and stakeholders. FIRST Youth development itself requires at a minimum the understanding of Youth Protection Policies, Data Privacy and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.
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...
Underappreciated Critical Information
What is Underappreciated critical information? A team's unappreciated critical information is only unappreciated as long as access to it is quick and uneventful. This information is found in a variety of areas for your team, any of which when you can not find can...
How to Run a Sustainable Team and Not Lose Your Mind
FIRSTChampionship 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...
Helping youth navigate and self-advocate within FIRST
The hardest thing for youth to go through and understand is that being different is not a setback, but a strength. Navigating FIRST and where the youth fits in is part of a mentor’s responsibility, but also the students. Students should feel comfortable with all...
Building a Functional Team Handbook
There are a variety of documents a team may need to have to simply exist. A club form or charter proclaiming that you do exist within a group, bylaws with the rules to protect and run the organization, but what should a handbook have to be useful to the members of...
Are we talking Continuity or Sustainability?
Are these terms interchangeable? No, they are not. Simply put, continuity is about the functions of surviving, and sustainability is about setting up your strategies to thrive. In the hierarchy of needs for organization health, the means to survive must be met...