Applying to be a Mentor

Qualifications

Adults interested in becoming a mentor need not have any specialized domain knowledge to get started. It is likely that anyone interested in becoming a mentor has some skills in an area of the team in which they would like to mentor and will develop additional skills and knowledge on a similar path as our new students take.

Age Requirements

KnightKralwer requires that all mentors have been out of high school for a minimum of 3 years. This ensures any KnightKrawler Alumni wishing to return as mentors, only do so after all students who were teammates of the alumni have also graduated from the team. Even for those who were not members of Team 2052, this policy naturally sets the appropriate dynamic between student and mentor and tends to avoid situations where students and mentors would be social friends and hangout, thus creating an issue that violates FIRST and school policies for social contact between coaches and athletes. For graduates attending college close to home, mentor eligibility begins during your Senior (4th) year of college.

Coaching Requirements

There are a number of FIRST policies, such as the Youth Protection Policy (YPP), as well as Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) and Irondale High School policies that must be followed as a coach/mentor. Additionally, a criminal background check will be conducted by the school district. A complete guide to policies and regulations will be provided to all potential mentors while onboarding. A low pressure meet-and-greet may be arranged for new mentors to meet with existing mentors as a way to test the waters for personality fit prior to meeting students. This will be an opportunity to establish expectations and level setting.

Getting Started as a Mentor

The following list of tips and suggestions assume that new mentors will start in the fall (September) when new students join the team. Occasionally new mentors will join later in the year. The following suggested can be compressed to accelerate a new mentor’s engagement, or a new mentor may use the Spring to become acclimated to robotics so they are ready to be more engaged the following fall. Use the following as a guideline. Everyone’s experience will be different.

Show Up

New mentors are expected to attend meetings at least once a week. Temporary work or family conflicts happen. Missing meetings for a week or two when such conflicts arise should not discourage new mentors from continuing to participate.
New mentors are not expected to attend all meetings but are very welcome to do so.

First Month Attending Meetings (FALL)

Listen, observe, ask questions. New mentors are not expected to solve problems and answer student questions immediately. New mentors should be using this time to learn about robotics just like our new students.
Be cautious with advice to students. Be active in asking questions. Effective mentoring in robotics often requires significant historical knowledge of team operations, or deep technical knowledge of what is allowed or possible in constructing the robot. Be cautious when offering advice until you feel comfortable in the ecosystem we operate in. When unsure, ask another mentor how to offer advice to students.
Be a helper, not a leader. Start off by holding parts, fetching tools, proof reading, and asking how you can help. Build relationships and learn as much as you can.
Learn the names of students and other mentors.

Second and Third Month (FALL)

Find an area of business or technical competency where you can deep dive. For example, research vision processing, learn CAD and CNC operations, or work on video production best practices. One of the most effective ways to step into robotics is to avoid learning everything, but to find one thing to work directly with a small set of students. Having a project builds engagement for both students and adults, and provides a sense of value and meaning in your mentoring.
Look for students who appear lost or disengaged. Ask, “How is it going?”, “Are you stuck?”, “What are you working on?”, “I’m new, can you explain what you are doing?” Students new to robotics can be overwhelmed and afraid to ask for help. Sometimes it just takes an adult asking how it is going to engage them, and help get them going again. Attempt to talk to 5-10 students each meeting, even with short check-ins.
Keep asking questions. Offer suggestions in the form of leading questions instead of giving direct advice. Begin to ease into your leadership role.

Competition Season (Winter/Spring)

Work closely with your sub team leadership. Ask where you can help. Ask for a job. Ask what knowledge gaps you can research and help fill. Don’t take responsibility for tasks or areas that would require you to attend every meeting, if your schedule won’t allow that level of attendance.
Find students that need help. Ask how you can help.
Help manage tasks and schedules.
Keep stress low. Competition season and deadlines create pressure. Don’t contribute to the stress.
Use caution when sharing expectations of students. KnightKrawler has a diverse population of students with varying environmental pressures and neurodiverse behaviors. Do not make assumptions about a student’s behavior or expectations. As a new mentor, defer to veteran mentors if issues arise when working with students.

Build Mentor Skills - Getting Started

Become familiar with the structural materials used to construct past robots.
There is a small ecosystem of available motors and gearboxes available for FRC. Learn how these motors are used and how power is transferred to moving parts with belts, chains, and gears
Learn how to use OnShape CAD
Review the design principles the team has defined
Familiarize yourself with mechanisms on previous robots. Specifically, shooters, elevators, four-bar mechanisms, and game piece manipulators.
Look for an area on which to focus. Consider becoming an expert in CAD, CNC, 3D printing, or wiring.
As a new mentor, use caution when suggesting something unfamiliar to the team.

Programming Mentor Skills - Getting Started

Refresh your Java skills
Join the KnightKrawler GitHub account
Review WPI Lib, the library used to interact with all components and mechanisms on the robot. However, do not rely on the official documentation as an optimal learning tool.
Become familiar with the Command-Based programming pattern used in FRC
Perform a detailed code review of the previous 2-3 years of robot code. Ensure to understand how the objects in the code relate to the physical mechanisms on the robot.
Look for an area on which to focus. Consider becoming an expert in odometry, vision, PID, or autonomous driving.
As a new mentor, use caution when suggesting processes or methodologies that do not fit existing software patterns used by the team.

More than Robots Mentor Skills - Getting Started

The part of the team that focuses on non-robot tasks has a very large area to cover. Find a few things to focus on to get started.
Learn to use the camera equipment we have.
Review the different media platforms the team manages, including the website, facebook, instagram, and YouTube.
Learn about the impact award and review previous years submissions.
Learn about past outreach events and how the team interacts with the public outside of the school.
Consider finding a niche to focus on such as video production, essay writing, outreach, grant writing, graphic design or public relations.