A: Team meetings average 1.5 to 2 hours long, once or twice a week. Many teams meet before and after school in a teacher’s classroom.  Other teams meet before and after school at a parent coach’s home.  Each year, team meeting times will vary, depending on coach availability. "Extra" meetings may be needed to prepare the research project and presentation. 

A: LHCS has had between 10 and 23 teams over the past five years. The MPS District Tournament generally has space for between 8 and 10 LHCS teams. Therefore, an early January LHCS tournament is sometimes necessary to choose the teams that will represent LHCS at the District Tournament. 

A: First Lego League has an age limit of 9 to 14 years old.

A:  Coaches will first divide students by grade, gender and student preference. Then student and coach availability will factor into developing teams.

A: LHCS could not have a successful GISE and GEMS program without parent volunteers willing to coach teams, take the pressure off teacher coaches, and ensure smaller overall team sizes. It is not necessary to have an engineering or programming background to coach. It IS necessary to be able to work with four to five 9 to 14 year olds and keep them on task (makes the engineering degree sound easy, doesn’t it?). There are some great resources for coaches on both the First Lego League and High Tech Kids websites, as well as help and support from former coaches. Additionally, MPS offers training every year for parent and teacher coaches. Contact the teacher or parent volunteer coordinator for more information.

Learn more about First Lego League and the Robotics Challenge at:

http://www.firstlegoleague.org/ (the international organization)

http://www.hightechkids.org/ (Minnesota’s organization that puts on the tournaments)

http://www.usfirst.org/  (For Inspiration, Recognition of Science and Technology)

http://www.firstlegoleague.org/challenge/teamresources

Coaching a team: 

http://www.firstlegoleague.org/challenge/teamresources#Preparation

Programming:

http://www.stemcentric.com/nxt-tutorial/

http://www.teamhassenplug.org/NXT/NXTGTips/