Real Life Experience

Becoming a member of a FIRST Robotics team is a great choice for almost any student. For those who are considering careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) fields, participating on a FIRST Robotics team can offer amazing opportunities for hands-on experience. But FIRST is not just for the engineers of the future; being on a team is a great experience for people with career interests of any sort. As a mentor of Team Spyder, John Campbell, has described it, "You'd be shocked at how much this is like the work environment." In addition to preparing students for the work place, being on a FIRST team can help students who plan on going to college. FIRST Robotics participants are eligible for over $80 million dollars in collage scholarships.

School Credit

Joining Team Spyder has team-specific benefits as well. At Poway High School, Robotics is a 5.5 class so students are given school credit for participating in FIRST Robotics. Concerning school credit, being on the team is the equivalent of taking an elective class. Possibly the best part of being on Team Spyder is meeting the other students and mentors on the team, who are intelligent, inspiring, encouraging, and fun!

Job Opportunities

"FIRST Robotics has given me tools and opportunities to succeed in life; it even gave me the opportunity to work at a robotics company with real life application." — John Matze

Problem Solving and Leadership

"Robotics gives you life skills such as working as a team, problem solving, leadership skills and how to communicate professionally with companies." — Karyn Brown

Public Speaking

"Being on a FIRST Robotics team has helped me tremendously improve my public speaking skills. I have had frequent opportunities to talk to judges and other professionals, which has helped me learn how to professionally address an adult." — Julie Gattenio

Michael Salamy, Derek Sit, and Ryan Zhao presented for the prestigious Chairman's award at the Bayou Regional in 2015 (Right)

Scholarships

"Robotics offers more than 14 million dollars in scholarships available only for college-bound FIRST students. I personally received a full ride to Clarkson University because I participated in robotics for four years." — Andrew Lindsey

Additional Information

Time Commitment

Robotics, like any other sport or extra curricular activity, requires time. The entire robotics team only officially meets on Wednesdays for most of the school year but during the six week build season, we meet on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Since the robot needs to be built within such a short time constraint, Mechanical Team usually is the most demanding and the biggest time commitment during the six week build season; they meet up to 6 times a week.

Missing Meetings

We understand that you have other extracurriculars that may conflict with Robotics. If you know you are going to miss a meeting, you need to inform Mr. Dohm or the secretary before hand. You will need to make up the hours that you missed. Since Robotics is a 5.5 class, you are not allowed to miss more than 2 meetings.

How to Join

1. Find Mr. Dohm or Mr. Parr. Talk to Mr. Parr or Mr. Dohm. (Either during the normal school day or at one of our team meetings on Wednesdays from 5-9 pm in room N3106)

2. Download Forms

   Print the forms from our Team Forms page.

3. Turn in Forms

   Fill out the forms so you can be a part of the team officially. This needs to be done ASAP. You can give them to one of our secretaries.

Required forms and additional information can be found under Team Forms.