WHAT WE WILL COVER

Welcome

The team’s goal is for each student, mentor, parent, and volunteer to find their experience with TEAM 2137 and the FIRST® organization rewarding and enjoyable. This intro is intended to give you an understanding of the robotics program at Oxford High School and what to expect as a member of the team.

For more details please review the team's handbook:

BEFORE WE TALK ABOUT US

What is FIRST®

For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology

• ▪ A mission-driven, global robotics community
• ▪ Prepares young people for the future and inspires today's kids to build tomorrow's leaders
• ▪ Runs age-appropriate programs from elementary school all the way through high school
• ▪ Teaches far more than robotics: teamwork, communication, problem-solving, and professionalism

FIRST® Core Values

Gracious Professionalism®

Coopertition®

A way of doing high-quality work that respects individuals and the community. Fierce competition and mutual gain are not separate notions — you compete hard, and you treat people with kindness and integrity while you do it.

Displaying unqualified kindness and respect in the face of fierce competition. Teams help each other even while competing against each other — lending parts, sharing advice, even helping a rival repair their robot before a match.

FIRST - IN OXFORD

Oxford Community Schools Robotics Program

Oxford Robotics is the Oxford Community Schools program that lets students in grades K–12 explore STEM through FIRST. Across all levels, roughly 40 teams and 300+ Oxford students take part each year — TEAM 2137 is the high school FRC team, and the most advanced step on that ladder.

Many students join the team after having participated in a lower level but that isn't a requirement. No experience is necessary to join the team!

NOW, ABOUT US

TEAM 2137 - THE OXFORD ROBOCATS

• Oxford High School's FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) team — the high-school arm of Oxford Robotics
• Competes through FIRST In Michigan against teams of high schoolers and their industry mentors, building large-scale robots for head-to-head competition
• More than a club — it's a competition team, just like any high school sport, and participation is treated as a privilege
• Backed by the Oxford Career & Technical Education (CTE) program, which sponsors the team and maintains our facilities

“We build futures by expanding our skills as individuals and a team to empower ourselves and others to transform the world!”

— Written by the students of TEAM 2137, 2021–22 season

OUR MISSION

Our Guiding Philosophies

MORE THAN BUILDING ROBOTS

What Students Do

FALL TRAINING

Hands‑on STEM learning

Communication & professional skills

Community involvement

OCCRA

This fall the team will be competing in the Oakland County Competitive Robotics Association as our fall training and prep.

• Newer Students form the design and build team
• More experienced student are the mentors

Through this all students will gain experience working through the process of designing, building, testing and competing with their robot.

• All students are required to participate.
• Extra Wednesday build meetings are being held from 9/16 to 10/21
• Students are required to attend at least one competition

All students gain experience in giving back and helping other through our year round outreach efforts:

• Volunteering at Events
• Exhibitions Promoting STEM, TEAM 2137, and FIRST
• Mentoring other FRC and Young Teams

We don't just build a robot, we need to be ready and able to tell people about what we built and how.

• Presenting to Judges and Sponsors
• Awards Presentations, Documentation, Videos
• Marketing materials for the Team & Program

Through the process of building our robots students have the opportunity to to learn different hands on skills.

• Design and fabrication
• Mechanical assembly and wiring
• Programming (both the robot and data collection apps used in competitions)

HOW WE ALL FIT TOGETHER

Team Structure

Parents: Volunteer, Support Student, Join the Mentors Pool

OUR COACHING STAFF

Mentors Needed!

As students graduate so do their parents, we need new parents to help provide a consistent experience for the students by joining now and learning from other mentors before they leave.

THE CYCLE OF WHAT WE DO

Year Round Activities of TEAM 2137

SPRING - COMPETITION SEASON

Our season runs from the day after Worlds through to the completion of Worlds the next year (May to April) and is subdivided into 3 periods of activity.

SUMMER

• Off-season Events
• Special Projects
• Summer Outreach (OELC Summer Camp)

FALL

• New Student Introduction & Training for All
• OCCRA, FTC, FLL Outreach (Volunteering)
• FTC and FLL Mentoring (BY COACH ARRANGEMENT ONLY)
• Exhibition Outreach (STEM Nights, T-shirt Launching, etc.)
• Off-Season Events (Kettering Kickoff)
• Fund Raising (Sponsor Recruitment)
• Special Projects
• Team Meetings 1 to 2 nights a week depending on activities.

• Design, Build, Test, Program, Refine our Competition Robot
• Prepare Seasonal Awards Submissions (Essays, Presentations, Videos)
• Design & Program Team Applications (Scouting App)
• Design and Produce Seasonal Team Marketing (T-shirts, Pit Boards, Posters, Sponsor Recognition etc.)
• Host 2 Outreach Events (Week 0 FRC Practice, Oxford FLL Explore Expo)

NON-NEGOTIABLE

Safety First

Rule #1: You are responsible for the safety of yourself and others.

• Safety glasses always worn in the shop and whenever working with tools or the robot
• Fully enclosed shoes required in the lab and at competitions
• Hair tied back, no loose clothing near equipment
• No one operates machinery alone or without certification

• Work areas kept neat; everything put away at meeting's end
• Unsafe conditions reported to the coach or advisor immediately
• Horseplay is not acceptable or appropriate
• Repeated disregard for safety rules can mean dismissal from the team

YOUTH PROTECTION PROGRAM

• No adult is to meet alone with students.
• No Adult is to communicate 1:1 electronically with a student.
• Harassment of any form will not be tolerated (gender, race, religion, etc.)
• Violation may result in dismissal from the team.
• Any violations regarding abuse (physical, emotional, sexual) will be immediately reported to the school and appropriate authorities.

If you see something you must say something!

All team members are also required to abide by the Oxford Schools Student Code of Conduct and Extra Curriculars Code of Conduct at all times. This expectation is enforced in the school building, at team events, and while at OHS events.

CONDUCT

SHOP & ROOM SAFETY

WOW, ROBOTS ARE EXPENSIVE

Team Costs, Fundraising, & Parent Costs

Rough Estimated Budget

$46,000

Every season it takes between $30k and $40k bare minimum to Operate. Below is our ideal operating budget to fund the program.

What we actually spend is based off what we raise, what we can reuse, and how far we advance (Worlds registration and robot transportation is ~$8k in the above).

ANNUAL BUDGET

Estimated Costs per Student

$910

Parents are expected to pay for basic costs for transportation, meals, and hotel stays plus there is a base fee that provides each student competition shirts.

The above numbers are rough estimates base on some assumptions. The final cost expectation for competition season will be provided to parents in early December.

PARENT COSTS

FUNDRAISING

While we may occasionally do sale type fundraising to benefit the students, our primary focus is recruiting and retaining sponsor ships.

To this end, last season we started adapting a Student Participation based Sponsor Program based on other successful programs at other teams.

Through this program students this season will receive a percentage of the sponsor dollars they recruit or retain towards their expenses for the season.

More details will be released to the students and families as we launch the program for this season in mid to late September.

Last Season:

Our policy is that no student will be left behind due to financial hardship. With that said, Students who do not participate in recruiting sponsors will not be eligible for financial support.

REQUIREMENTS FOR MEMBERSHIP

Eligibility and Travel Team Requirements

Requirements for participation in team activities.

Agree too and abide by all Safety rules and guidlines!

Requirements to travel with the team to competions.

ATTENDANCE:

• FALL: Attend at least 50% of team meetings from after Parents night to after the holiday break.
• COMPETITION: Attend 75% of Build Season Meetings

FALL TRAINING

• Participate in the fall design and build of the OCCRA robot.
• Attend at least 1 OCCRA competition (by sign up)

FALL OUTREACH

• Provide at least 8 hours of support for FTC or FLL by voulunteering at a local event attended by one of our teams and/or mentoring one of the Oxford teams (only by arrangement and agreement of both our and the receiving team's coaches)
• Support at least one exhibition outreach including (but not limited too) helping at an off-season event, launching t-shirts at a football game, demonstrating the robot at an elementary school STEM night, marching with Oxford Robotics in the homecoming parade (but note that if the opportunity is outside something offered by the team you need to discuss with Mr Houston and Mr. Trombley to make sure it counts).

FUNDRAISING

• Speak to at least 3 potential sponsors to try and recruit (by assignment with Mr. Houston or Mr. Trombly)
• Secure a new sponsor on your own with our team materials

Participate in professionalism requirements including rsvping for meetings and coming prepared.

COMPETITON OUTREACH

• Support both spring team outreach events (Week 0 & Oxford FLL Explore Expo)

WHAT'S NEXT

Joining and Participating with TEAM 2137

JOIN OUR COMMUNITY PORTAL

NEW - The community portal is now a part of our integrated website. It has many features that will be released as needed throughout this season. If you had an account on the previous portal, your login will work the same here.

JOIN OUR TEAM DISCORD

WARNING - We've had a lot of luck using a private discord for team communications. Please sign up for it to be able to have group discussions with the team but be aware that due to changes at the school district level we may be retiring it soon to use Rooms instead.

REGISTER TO THE TEAM WITH FIRST

REQUIRED - FIRST asks that all parents register their students with the team at firstinspires.org before participating in team activities. We wont turn folks away immediately if they aren't registered but it is easier for everyone if you attend to this sooner rather then later

After signing up/in checkout the team calendar and plan to join us at our Fall meetings.

Join us at Kettering Kickoff this weekend to see a competition and cheer on the students trying their hand at driving our robot.

Q&A