Team 303 Business Plan

FRC Team 303:The TEST Team

2014 BUSINESS PLAN

WWW.TEAM303.COM

BRIDGEWATER-RARITAN HIGH SCHOOL

BRIDGEWATER, NJ 08807

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

PROGRAM SUMMARY

DESCRIPTION OF FIRST

TEAM ORIGIN, DESCRIPTION, AND HISTORY

TEAM IMPACT

TEAM STRUCTURE AND ORGANIZATION

TEAM RELATIONSHIPS

TEAM USE OF RESOURCES

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

TEAM FINANCIAL STATEMENT

TEAM RISK ANALYSIS AND RISK MANAGEMENT

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

FRC Team 303: The TEST Team 3

Executive Summary

MISSION STATEMENTThe obvious goal of a “robotics team” should be to build the best robot possible, but Team 303 does what it can to make sure that the stereotype of “nerds just hanging out building a robot” is a thing of the past. We are working together to forge a new stereotype for our community, one that is overdue: “a group of kids that are doing their part to better themselves and their future.” When we look back at our time on 303 we will be able to pinpoint the moment in time where we started to make a real effort to improve the lives of not only ourselves, but the world in which we live. Our future is decided by our past, and our future is bright. Not only is TEST an acronym for Technologists, Engineers, Students, and Teachers, it is our mantra to act as a guiding force by saying we are Triumphant Everyday, Starting Today. We take pride in everything it means to be a FIRST team, the robot, our school, helping the community, working with other teams, and being role models. Our aim is to give every single student an opportunity to show what skills they have, as well as an outlet to apply them. Everyone deserves a chance, and with the massive variety of tasks on the team, there is something for everyone. Team 303 is an inspiration to the members, the school, and the community; we plan to increase that at every opportunity so that our members who are some of the best students in the school, go into the world, and become some of best scientists and engineers there are.

TEAM ORIGINThe history of Team 303 is one of evolution and change. It has been involved with three different schools, changed its name twice, and changed build facilities twice. We started in 1999 as a partnership between The Pingry School, The Midland School, and Bihler of America under the name, Vulgen’s Heroes. The Pingry school was replaced by the Bridgewater-Raritan High School in 2000, then both Bihler of America and the Midland school left for various reasons leaving only BRHS to be the exclusive home of the team, then Panther Robotics. In the years following, the team stabilized itself with smaller, but more plentiful, sponsors, and a permanent workspace at STS Tire and Auto Center’s warehouse. In the past 3 years, Team 303 finally gained real stability. The last big change for the team occured in 2012 when we grew tired of being “another red and black team.” We decided that we needed a unique image to recognize the unique nature of our team, and the individual students on it. We picked the name TEST Team because the acronym TEST, Technologists, Engineers, Students, and Teachers, accurately represents the core of our team, then the teal color because of the bright positive energy that it omitted. We also chose the colorful “Test” pattern as our new logo. The team, once a small team getting shoved from workspace to workspace, now has over 70 members, a permanent workspace, and the ability and sustainability to year by year run faster and stretch our arms farther.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURETeam 303 has a very solid organizational structure that covers both students and adults. There are two main governing bodies: the Student Leadership Council (SLC), and the Robotics Alliance of Mentors and Parents (RAMP). The Student Leadership Council contains two student captains, one of robot/competition side of the team, and the other of the team development side of the team. The goal of the robot/competition side of the team is to design, prototype, build, test, then compete the best robot possible, while the team development side focuses on fundraising, outreach, marketing, and overall team image. There are 9 leaders, each with a subteam, under the captains for managing more specific parts of the team.The SLC meets regularly to discuss full team items such as sponsors, recruiting, and other events. RAMP contains all the parents and mentors of the team; the organization helps the students work and engage sponsors. They also run their own fundraisers to support the students on the team. Our team’s business leader works closely with RAMP to make sure everyone is on the same page, we are fully aware of available funds, then they get spent properly.

RELATIONSHIPSWhenever someone works with the team they are guaranteed to be met with the smiling face of a teal-cladded student,

4 2014 Business Plan

and if need be, a mentor to give guidance. Team 303 has very strong relationships with all aspects of the team. Students quickly become family with regular meetings, team building activities, and encouraging interactions between new and old members. We then are quick to throw new members into our FTC program so they can get tools in their hands and start learning as soon as possible. Once someone joins our team, it’s very rare for someone to leave; the focus we put on every single member makes them feel welcome, and always excited to participate. Our sponsors come from a multitude of places: parents’ workplaces, RAMP reaching out to businesses, and students reaching out to businesses. We encourage students and parents to work with businesses that they know, and also work towards engaging new businesses. All of our sponsors get listed on our robot, banners, and website, receive newsletters that update them on the team, and are also invited to have tables at our MAR district event so they can see exactly what they are sponsoring, and interact with the community. Our sponsors also give us mentors; our mentors are a great collection of adults willing to donate their time and energy to help out the team. They can come from a variety of places including sponsors, parents, or alumni. We take nothing for granted, and make sure that everyone involved with the team knows how grateful we are for their help.

DEPLOYMENT OF RESOURCESTeam 303 is very lucky for the resources that it has both monetary and non-monetary so it makes sure to use them to benefit as many people as possible. Team 303 is fortunate to have a large warehouse to work in that is large enough to construct a full-sized FRC field. During the last two weeks of build season, we invite many other teams from the surrounding area in so they can test their robots so the first time they drive around a full field is not week 1. We use our financial support to make sure students have updated tools and machinery so they’re learning with what they’ll someday be using during their careers. We also subsidize trips so as many students as possible can share in great experiences as cost-effective as possible. Our team is massive, and growing rapidly, we use all of our human resources in combination with our fantastic district to run great events, in the past five years, we’ve run over 25 different robotics events. We use our numbers to do other volunteer activities, such as packing care packages for veterans at Operation: Shoebox, robot demonstrations, classes, and keeping our school clean. A big event that is an entire team effort is the annual Somerset County 4-H fair, that is 3 days preceded and succeeded by preparation/setup and cleanup accordingly, and requires a huge effort from the team. The fair is visited by thousands of people, and is a great opportunity to give the team and FIRST some publicity.Team 303 has a great balance of students, mentors, parents, and sponsors so it uses all of it to get the maximum benefit.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTTeam 303 has a great financial situation with, as of 2/24/14, a budget surplus of $9,000.

BUDGET AND SPENDING AUTHORIZATION Last update: 2/24/14

TEAM 303 AND RAMP -SCHOOL YEAR 2013-2014School Budget RAMP Budget RAMP Actual

TEAM 303 PROJECTED REVENUESTR1 Funds in Team 303 general school account as of beginning of year: (est.) -TR2 District budget contribution 13-14 – general 8,000$ TR3 District budget contribution 13-14 – registration fees 8,000$ TR4 Corporate Donations -$ TR5 Fundraising -$ TR6 BR^2 Incoming Registration Fees 1,200$

Total Expected Team 303 Revenues 17,200$

RAMP PROJECTED REVENUESRR1 Carry-over balance from 2012-2013 10,000$ 12,043$ RR2 Dues 500$ 540$ RR3 Fundraising 18,200$ 1,530$ RR3.5Concessions -$ 4,288$ RR4 Corporate and other Donations 10,000$ 11,582$

Total Expected RAMP Revenues 38,700$ 29,982$

TEAM 303 PROJECTED EXPENSESRegistrations

TE1 Mid-Atlantic registration/kit of parts ( includes 2 Regional events) 5,000$ TE2 Mid-Atlantic Championship(MAR) or Travel Regional event 4,000$ TE3 Off-season event registrations (approx. 5 @ $200) 1,000$ TE4 FTC Registration ( 2 competitions) 1,000$ TE5 World Championship Registration ( St. Louis) 5,000$ TE6 Bus Transportation 1,500$

Subtotal: 17,500$ Parts and equipment

TE7 Robot parts and supplies 2,000$ TE8 Equipment fund (possible upgrades of computers, shop machines/tools.etc. ) 1,500$ TE9 FTC Equipment 500$

Subtotal: 4,000$

TOTAL TEAM 303 EXPENSES: 21,500$

RAMP PROJECTED EXPENSESRE1 Practice field 500$ -$ RE2 Travel fund to reduce cost of Championships or Travel Regional 15,000$ 6,000$ RE3 Miscellaneous build season costs, i.e pit, supplies 2,000$ -$ RE3A Equipment 5,000$ 3,624$ RE3B Robot parts and supplies 5,000$ 8,251$ RE4 Marketing (promotional items/giveaways) 1,200$ 1,235$ RE5 T-shirts/sweatshirts (paid for by resale of items) 1,200$ 600$ RE6 Socials, dinners etc. 1,300$ 240$ RE7 Concession Expense 300$ 58$ RE8 Trophies/Awards 300$ -$ RE9 Varsity Letters 400$ -$ RE10 Reserve (carry-over for 2014/15) 2,000$ 2,000$ RE11 Shipping contingency 500$ -$ RE12 Championship travel contingency 3,000$ -$ RE13 Administrative Expenses( PO Box, Tax & other filings, Non-profit app, bounced checks) 1,000$ 276$

TOTAL RAMP EXPENSES: 38,700$ 22,284$ TR = Team Revenue RR = RAMP RevenueTE = Team Expense RE = RAMP ExpenseRevenues minuses expenses listed 7,698$

FUTURE PLANSIn the coming years, 303 plans to work on improving our existing projects and outreach events while continuing to expand, and create a larger network for ourselves. Over the last few years, we have hosted many robotics events, including FRC and FTC. In the next seasons, our goal is to make these events even more enjoyable for all who take part. In addition, our outreach has blossomed over the last few years. We plan to continue creating more outreach projects and maintaining the ones we have. We have done work in an annual 4H fair to help promote robotics and inspire young minds to take up the fields of science and technology, and have recently completed Operation: Shoebox, where we packed care packages for soldiers in Afghanistan. We expect to continue these ventures, as well as building relationships with even more humanitarian organizations. With these plans to grow rapidly as a team, 303 should be able to impact more lives with each year to come. As our network grows, we will be able to contribute more, both to our community and to FIRST.


RISK ANALYSIS/MANAGEMENTStrengths:

› School Support

› Excellent Mentor/Parent Support

› Student Leadership

› Growth

› History

› Reputation

Weakness

› Involvement in School Curriculum

› Highly Dense FIRST Location

› No Solid Recruitment Strategy

› Population of Team Development

Opportunity

› Involving More Local Companies

› Recruiting More Mentors from Sponsors

› Encouraging Moare Parents to Mentor

› Continue Growth of School Presence

Threat:

› Loss of Sponsors

› Loss of Shops

› Change in school policy/Loss of District Support

› Loss of Mentor Interest


Program Summary

WHO ARE WE?Team 303 is a collection of students from the Bridgewater-Raritan High School. Every January, a challenge is given every FRC team (just under 3000 of them), and we have six weeks to design, build, and test a robot to perform that challenge, then compete with other teams at many events. Team 303 is one of the teams known for having a consistent quality robot, and has been to the World Championship two out of the last three years. The robot is not our only focus, we also prioritize making as big an impact as we can on our community by helping accelerate the growth of FIRST and STEM programs in our area as well as general volunteering. We make sure that our students, school, sponsors, FIRST, and our community knows that we appreciate everything they do for us.

WHAT DO WE DO?We do a lot of things. Every year we build (at least) three robots. Two smaller, FIRST Tech Challenge Robots earlier in the year with our rookie members in order to get them working with robots really early on, then our large FRC robot right after the new year begins. We go to several FTC and FRC events throughout the year, and run some of our own. The team also does a large amount of community service.

WHY DO WE DO IT?Many of our students join the team already having an interest in engineering, but that is not true for all of our students. Some of our students join because they’re struggling academically or with other problems in life, and they feel that the team will give them guidance. Whether our students join from personal initiative, are pushed to it by guidance counselors, teachers, or parents, we do what we do in order to help our students. We are proud of our 100% high school graduation rate, including some students that people thought wouldn’t be able to graduate. We don’t just build robots, we build people, and we allow every student on our team to get to find their passion, and use it to contribute. Whether it’s programming, music, or writing, we make sure that 303 is a welcoming environment that uses all the resources at its disposal.


Description of FIRST

FIRSTFIRST, For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, is an international organization created by Dean Kamen and Woodie Flowers in 1989 in order to inspire youth to get involved in engineering through robotics competitions. Beginning in a single gymnasium in New Hampshire, the organization currently has close to 3000 FRC teams, over 3000 FTC teams, and more than 25,000 FLL/Jr. FLL teams in many countries all over the world. Every year, FIRST reaches over 350,000 students through its various competitions. Their large community is devoted to raising awareness and interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), working towards a brighter future, inspiring students to pursue valuable STEM careers, and teaching important life lessons to everyone involved.

FIRST ROBOTICS COMPETITIONFRC is one of the four competitions that FIRST runs. This competition is done with larger robots, which may weigh upwards of 120 pounds, and is played on a field the size of a basketball court. The game is played three on three. This is the major competition, in which 303 participates in.

FIRST TECH CHALLENGEFTC is another competition that is run by FIRST. This competition has smaller robots in it, no bigger than an 18in cube, and played on a 12’ by 12’ square field. The competition has a smaller price tag on it so is more accessible to smaller schools, smaller private organizations, or even just groups of friends with a common interest The season starts close to the beginning of the school year, so Team 303 uses its two FTC teams to get new members involved early, so they quickly see the fun and excitement of the robotics team, as well as start learning core concepts early on.


Team Origin, Description, and History

BEGINNINGS (1999-2006)FRC Team 303: Vulgen’s Heroes was created in 1999 as a partnership between Bihler of America, the Midland school and Pingry Academy. The next year, Pingry decided to not participate again, and the Bridgewater-Raritan High School took their place. The partnership between Midland, Bihler and BRHS was a very successful one; the students from both Midland and BRHS had the chance to work with real engineers to design and build mechanical wonders as well gain new friends. The students were not the only ones who benefited from this partnership, Bihler’s engineers enjoyed the challenge of building the robot, and the tight deadline as well as the complicated designs helped them improve their own skills as engineers. After the 2000 season, Team 303 changed its name to Panther Robotics, after the mascot of the Bridgewater-Raritan High School. During this time, the team earned many awards for design excellence and won a number of regional championships.

RELOCATION (2007)After the 2006 season, Bihler’s headquarters moved location, and because of that, decided that it could no longer sponsor Team 303. This left 303 without a primary monetary sponsor and build site. The team then went on a quest to find a new main sponsor to host their robot-building activities, but during this search, the Midland School had to leave also. Team 303 was left confined to the Bridgewater-Raritan High School without a place to build. Things finally looked up as the 2007 season approached, the single large contribution given by Bihler had been replaced by many generous


donations by local businesses and tool donations by alumni, but the problem of where to build still remained. After looking at using students’ garages, classrooms, and other locations, PTM, Pressure Tube Manufacturing, stepped in, and granted Panther Robotics use of their facilities.

TEAM 303 RENAISSANCE (2008-2010)Now with stability, Team 303 went through an era of massive growth and development. They continued helping the community like they had for years at the Midland run (until it ended in 2006), but also found new ways such as raking leaves and shoveling snow for the elderly as well as creating an engineering program for fourth/fifth graders to attend after school. The team also started its own off-season event called the Bridgewater-Raritan Battle Royal or BR^2 that occurred every year in late May, and was usually attended by around 30 teams. In order to help out the environment, Team 303 began a series of green initiatives such as recycling metal scraps and cans, collecting old cell phones and electronics, and cleaning up its high school. These activities both benefitted the community and the team by creating a cleaner community, and providing the team with additional funding. The growth of the team culminated with its successful 2010 season, in which it made waves in both the New Jersey and Connecticut Regionals by making it into the semi-finals and quarter-finals respectively, as well as running a strategy booth to help all the teams learn about each other in a more efficient manner.

A NEW ERA (2011)At the end of 2010, Team 303 once again became homeless when, after an ownership change, PTM decided that they could no longer provide a home for Panther Robotics’ activities. The team found a temporary home at STS Tire & Auto Center, which would house them during the build season, and eventually that temporary partnership turned


into a permanent one. 2011 was a huge year as far as success and changes go, the team won both the New Jersey and Philadelphia Regionals as well as making it into the eliminations at the World Championship. The summer that followed was when the SLC, Student Leadership Council, was created. It was a huge milestone for the team that marked a large transition of power from the mentors/advisors to the students.

TESTING (2012)The last monumental task Team 303 went through in recent years was both an internal and external one. After taking a look around, it become evident that neither the red/black color-scheme nor the panther mascot were very unique. The team decided to make themselves stand out when the SLC approved an image change for the team. The red/black Panther Robotics became the teal TEST Team. TEST is an acronym that stands for Technologists, Engineers, Students, and Teachers that encompasses what Team 303 is all about: those groups working together to do great things. It came with a beautiful new “TEST” pattern logo and colorful appearance. The change was a huge success making 303 unmistakable to the point that they won an Imagery award at their second event as the TEST Team.

TODAY (2013 - 2014)Team 303 has changed a lot from its humble beginnings to the bright, multi-colored TEST Team. The future ahead only looks brighter after an incredibly 2013 season that included winning their division in the World Championship in St. Louis, and several other awards throughout their season. No matter what happens in the future, Team 303 members will continue to inspire each other, and the community. The team has a history of team work and overcoming adversity that shows that it’s not just about the robot.


Team Impact

EVENTSTeam 303 is fortunate to have fantastic facilities in its high school, and throughout the entire district. It uses these facilities to put on a massive amount of events every year.

› FRC District event: Team 303 runs a MAR District event, and in both years that it has existed, it has been the largest district event in the MAR region.

› FTC meets: In order to support the FTC program, we run two large meets every year. At the larger of the two meets that comes in January, someone walking in might think it was a qualifier.

› FLL event: The team has run an FLL event for a number of years, each year, it has been getting bigger and bigger to the point where it is one of the largest FLL events in the area. The team members work one on one with the teams, getting them to appointments, matches, and providing even more learning opportunities for the kids.

› Other competitions: While the team is loyal to FIRST, we still make sure to kindle the growth of interest in STEM, and help out when another competition is in dire need of a venue.

STARTING FIRST TEAMSTeam 303 loves the array of FIRST programs so much that we try our hardest to allow other students to have similar experiences.

› FTC Team 756 and 757: We parent two award-winning FTC teams

› FLL Team 1877: The RoboPanthers: We started a FIRST Lego League team at our middle school that at its first competition, was the runner up for the Project Award.

› FRC Team 4546: We reached across state borders and started 4546 in Dover, New Hampshire. We mentored them through video conferences, and other remote work.


SUPPORTING OTHER TEAMSWe are grateful for all the opportunities that the team has throughout its extensive history, and makes sure to help teams who may not have had all those opportunities.

› FRC Team 613: The Neo Warriors are a team that has struggled in the past, and had to “restart” several times. Team 303 took them under our wing so we can help them grow into a more sustainable operation.

› FRC Team 1676: We are giving them guidance and serving as a reference to help them gain varsity status.

› FRC Practice Field: The team built an entire FRC practice field that during the last two weeks of build season, and into the competition season, was used by many other teams. Not every team has the space for an entire field, so we made sure that they all had plenty of time to test and fix problems before bag day.

› LabView Workshops: Team 303 has a lot of great programmers on its team, as well as a few fantastic programming mentors, so we use our huge knowledge of LabView to help other teams get a better grasp on it, and solve any problems they might run into.

COMMUNITY SERVICEThe community has given so much to Team 303, and we make sure to do what we can to give back to it.

› Operation Shoebox: The team used its large numbers of current students and alumni to help pack over 800 care packages for troops overseas.

› Rutger’s Dance Marathon: The team appeared at the Rutger’s Dance Marathon to support kids from Robert Wood Johnson. We let them drive around our FTC robots, and handed out books, buttons, and stress balls.

› Superstorm Sandy recovery drive: Last year, the team organized and executed a massive supply drive for victims


of Superstorm Sandy. The team filled up a truck with supplies, and sent it to Staten Island, one of the areas in need of the most help.

› FRC MAR District drives: The team is using the size of our districts to the advantage of the entire community by running three huge drives: a cell phone drive for victims of abusive relationships, a glasses drive for underprivileged kids in India, and a book drive for underprivileged school districts.

EDUCATIONAn educated community is important to us, so we make sure to spread as much knowledge as possible

› LEGO Workshops: Many of our students have come through all levels of the FIRST program so our team is passionate about more than just FRC, we have run several LEGO workshops to help FLL teams. We have run them at the 4-H center, our local Jewish Community Center, and a semester-long course at a local temple.

› Middle School Technical Design Challenge: In order to support the growth/creation of FLL teams, the team runs the Middle School Technical Design Challenge. This event allows middle school LEGO clubs to come and get a taste of what FLL is like so they then go on, and create their own. It is also so new FLL teams have a chance to work as a team, and get experience before the main season.

› Robot presentations: Team 303 makes sure that everyone is aware of the importance of engineering as well as the advantage that FIRST provides to students. We have given numerous presentations and robot demonstrations to younger groups, including kids who live on base at Picatinny Arsenal, Boy and Girl Scouts, kids at our elementary school science fairs, and more, in order to get them involved early.

› Game nights: The team hosts eight annual game nights at our local Microsoft Store that it uses to invite the general public to come, learn, and have a great time.

› 4-H Fair: Historically, the team has appeared at the annual 4-H fair, but last year, the team took a leadership role. We built an outdoor platform that was used by other FRC and FTC teams, helped run a massive tournament for all the LEGO clubs, and served as FIRST ambassadors to thousands of people over the 3-day fair.


Team Structure and Organization

GOVERNING BODIES › The Student Leadership Council (SLC) - comprised of two student captains and ten sub-team leaders that make

the majority of team decisions, as well as keep the team organized.

› Team 303 Robotics Alliance of Mentors and Parents (RAMP) - made up of all the parents, mentors, and advisors who make up our team.

ROBOT/COMPETITIONThe robot/competition side of the team focuses on designing and building the best robot they can.

› Mechanical: Build the physical structure of the robot.

› Electrical: Install all the electronic components on the robot and wire it.

› Programming: Write all of the robot’s code.

› CAD: Design the entire robot in Autodesk Inventor.

› Strategy: Run the robot design process then work on pick lists, scout, and talk to other teams at competition.

TEAM DEVELOPMENTTeam development manages fundraising, marketing, outreach, and other administrative aspects of the team.

› Outreach: Work with the community to find volunteer opportunities for the team.

› Marketing: Keep the team’s image polished and updated.

› Business: Work with RAMP and sponsors as well as seek new sponsors.

› Media: Photograph and video every team event then display our successes in creative ways.

PHASES OF MEMBERSHIPThere are several phases of membership on Team 303:

› New Recruit

› Pre-FRC Rookie

› FRC Rookie

› Veteran

› Varsity Veteran

› Leader

› Captain

NEW RECRUITWhen a student first attends a meeting, they are considered a “new recruit.” New Recruits are not sure if the team is for them yet, they may have seen our ad on the school news network, read our flyer, or simply heard of us through the grapevine. This is the time where we show why you should stay with the team, give you information, and help you start to see opportunities for yourself on the team.


PRE-FRC ROOKIEAfter a few organizational meetings, the new recruits work with veterans on FTC teams. This allows them get hands-on experience right away, so they can start learning, and understand what the team is by the time January roles around.

FRC ROOKIEAfter kick-off, the rookies on the team become FRC rookies, which mean that they are actively participating in the FRC program with intent to stay on the team long-term.

VETERANAt the first day of school, any rookies become veterans of the team. They have completed at least one season with the team, and it is time for them to start working with new recruits themselves.

VARSITY VETERANOur most dedicated members on the team have the opportunity to earn a varsity letter for their work on the team. When they receive the letter at the banquet, they then can go purchase the official robotics sportsman jacket to wear their letter on.

LEADERWhen a student displays exception dedication to a specific area on the team, they have a good chance to end up leading that area their Junior or Senior year, and perhaps, even their Sophomore year.

CAPTAINSometimes a student displays an amazingly strong overall passion for the team, and is chosen to be one of the two leaders on our team.


Team Relationships

RECRUITMENTTeam 303 recruits its members in several key ways:

› Freshman biology classes for general recruitment

› Specialized class presentations for specific areas, such as our media and business classes

› BRTV (our school’s television network) advertisement

› School newspaper ad

› Middle School FLL team

PARENTSOur team would not be anywhere close to where it is without our dedicated parent organization, RAMP. RAMP (Robotics Alliance of Mentors and Parents) is an organization that contains all of the team’s parents. They work with sponsors, help fundraise, run a fantastic concession stand at all of our events, help with transportation, and other aspects of the team that students can’t provide.

SPONSORSTeam 303 has a great relationship with its huge array of sponsors. Some examples include:

› STS Tire and Auto Center: They provide us with a massive warehouse, in which, we build, practice, and complete other important tasks in.

› National Instruments: They provide us with a fantastic LabView mentor who’s made our programming sub-team an encyclopedia of LabView knowledge.

› Microsoft Store: The team runs eight annual game nights at the local Microsoft Store in order to spread the word about FIRST, STEM, and the team in general as well as provide a fun community event.

› Veterans of Foreign War Center: The team works closely with the local VFW organization by helping them with their various events. Many of the veterans are coming out to support the team at our MAR District event.

› National Defense Education Program: They provide us with a fantastic mechanical engineer who makes sure all the students do things safely and properly.

› Rotor Clip: They provide us with a financial contribution as well as help machining a part or two every year that we do not have the proper equipment to make.

SCHOOLTeam 303 is a major cornerstone if the Bridgewater-Raritan High School. We are recognized in many ways.

› Official school varsity letters with robotics-specific sportsman jackets

› Regular appearances on the school’s news program and in the newspaper

› 303 Day (March 3rd)

› Official school championship banners for robotics in the gymnasium with FIRST blue banners in the library

› Engineering class and engineering curriculum in the physics classes


Team Use of Resources

OVERVIEWTeam 303 has many resources that allow it to be as strong as it is.

› Numbers: With a membership number closing in on 75, and growth every year, our team is getting larger and larger.

› Facilities: Between our warehouse and schools, we have some of the best team facilities around.

› Sponsors: Our sponsors are a crucial part of our teams strategy for success.

› Mentors: Our high level of knowledge in our students is largely attributed to our great mentors.

› Finances: We have great fundraisers and sponsors.

NUMBERSTeam 303 is currently at around 75 members, plus even more parents, alumni, and mentors who come and help out the team. We use our members to make a big difference.

› Volunteering: When we can bring over 40. sets of hands to help out at an event, we can sometimes double the total amount of volunteers at an event with just our team alone.

› Dispersion of tasks: No one our team has too much stress since we are good at delegating out tasks.

› Spirit: We have a massive stand presence at competitions, and our drive team always has a teal tidal wave right behind them to cheer them on. We make sure to support the event as a whole by just having a good time singing and dancing, and cheering on other teams as well.

FACILITIESWe have an amazing school district with great schools, especially the high school, and a fantastic warehouse to build at.

› FRC Practice field: We build a public FRC practice field in our warehouse.

› FRC MAR District: We use our great high school to run the largest MAR District event.

› Other event: Our district administrators are generous enough to allow us to constantly be filling their schools with robots.

FINANCESFortunately for the team, we have great finances, so we are able to afford a lot of things to make our team better.

› Trip subsidies: To make sure as many students as possible get to share experiences, the local competitions are all free to the individual members to attend, and travel regionals as well as the World Championship are heavily subsidized.

› Tools and equipment: We make sure that our students have the best tools and equipment to work with, so what they learn now, is accurate to the real world.

› Team image: We are able to get more professional products such as newsletters, program booklets, and pins, so our image represents us as well as possible.


Goals and Objectives

GOAL 1Make sure every student has an overly positive experience on the team

› Objective 1.1: Empower the students by allowing them to govern the team, and make the majority of decisions

› Objective 1.2: Take advantage of our collection of professional mentors and other events to create as many learning opportunities for the students

› Objective 1.3: Give the students the resources necessary to prototype, design, build, and test the best robot they can

› Objective 1.4: Make sure every student understands the importance of Gracious-Professionalism, and it applies it to their every day life, with or without a teal shirt

GOAL 2Work to extend the reach of FIRST as far as possible

› Objective 2.1: Use the team’s resources to start other FIRST teams in order to give other students the experience that our team has had

› Objective 2.2: Use our fantastic facilities to run events in order to grow our local FIRST community

› Objective 2.3: Have a strong presence in our school to expand the reach of our own team as much as possible

GOAL 3:Build a strong relationship with the community around us

› Objective 3.1: Help out members of the community who really need it

› Objective 3.2: Work to educate the community about the importance of STEM as much as possible

› Objective 3.3: Make 303’s teal image as prevalent as possible


Team Financial Statement

BUDGET AND SPENDING AUTHORIZATION Last update: 2/24/14

TEAM 303 AND RAMP -SCHOOL YEAR 2013-2014School Budget RAMP Budget RAMP Actual

TEAM 303 PROJECTED REVENUESTR1 Funds in Team 303 general school account as of beginning of year: (est.) -TR2 District budget contribution 13-14 – general 8,000$ TR3 District budget contribution 13-14 – registration fees 8,000$ TR4 Corporate Donations -$ TR5 Fundraising -$ TR6 BR^2 Incoming Registration Fees 1,200$

Total Expected Team 303 Revenues 17,200$

RAMP PROJECTED REVENUESRR1 Carry-over balance from 2012-2013 10,000$ 12,043$ RR2 Dues 500$ 540$ RR3 Fundraising 18,200$ 1,530$ RR3.5Concessions -$ 4,288$ RR4 Corporate and other Donations 10,000$ 11,582$

Total Expected RAMP Revenues 38,700$ 29,982$

TEAM 303 PROJECTED EXPENSESRegistrations

TE1 Mid-Atlantic registration/kit of parts ( includes 2 Regional events) 5,000$ TE2 Mid-Atlantic Championship(MAR) or Travel Regional event 4,000$ TE3 Off-season event registrations (approx. 5 @ $200) 1,000$ TE4 FTC Registration ( 2 competitions) 1,000$ TE5 World Championship Registration ( St. Louis) 5,000$ TE6 Bus Transportation 1,500$

Subtotal: 17,500$ Parts and equipment

TE7 Robot parts and supplies 2,000$ TE8 Equipment fund (possible upgrades of computers, shop machines/tools.etc. ) 1,500$ TE9 FTC Equipment 500$

Subtotal: 4,000$

TOTAL TEAM 303 EXPENSES: 21,500$

RAMP PROJECTED EXPENSESRE1 Practice field 500$ -$ RE2 Travel fund to reduce cost of Championships or Travel Regional 15,000$ 6,000$ RE3 Miscellaneous build season costs, i.e pit, supplies 2,000$ -$ RE3A Equipment 5,000$ 3,624$ RE3B Robot parts and supplies 5,000$ 8,251$ RE4 Marketing (promotional items/giveaways) 1,200$ 1,235$ RE5 T-shirts/sweatshirts (paid for by resale of items) 1,200$ 600$ RE6 Socials, dinners etc. 1,300$ 240$ RE7 Concession Expense 300$ 58$ RE8 Trophies/Awards 300$ -$ RE9 Varsity Letters 400$ -$ RE10 Reserve (carry-over for 2014/15) 2,000$ 2,000$ RE11 Shipping contingency 500$ -$ RE12 Championship travel contingency 3,000$ -$ RE13 Administrative Expenses( PO Box, Tax & other filings, Non-profit app, bounced checks) 1,000$ 276$

TOTAL RAMP EXPENSES: 38,700$ 22,284$ TR = Team Revenue RR = RAMP RevenueTE = Team Expense RE = RAMP ExpenseRevenues minuses expenses listed 7,698$


Team Risk Analysis and Risk Management

STRENGTHS › School support: Our school is a major proponent of our team.

› Excellent Mentor/Parent Support : Most students on our team have their parents right behind them in RAMP.

› Student leadership: Most of the decisions made on our team are made by students.

› Growth: Over the past 5 years, Team 303 has shown a major upward trend.

› History: We have a history of obstacles, and overcoming obstacles.

› Reputation : Our teal image is now unmistakable in FIRST, and the community.

WEAKNESSES › Involvement in school curriculum : We have an engineering class, and engineering curriculum in the physics

classes, but we need to do more to further involve engineering in our school.

› Highly dense FIRST location: We are in the densest FIRST area in the world. Sponsors are spread more thinly among all of us.

› No solid strategy for recruitment: We change our recruitment strategy every year, and sometimes it brings in a huge wave of new faces, and other times, not so much.

› Population of team development: Not many students join the team explicitly to work on the non-robot portion of the team.

OPPORTUNITIES › Involving more local companies: We have many opportunities to recruit newer or smaller companies.

› Recruiting more mentors from sponsors and parents: Every year more and more mentors join, we need to increase those numbers.

› Become even more prevalent in our school: We are still not seen by the entire student body as a team, but we’ve made massive progress in the past 4 or 5 years.

THREATS › Loss of Sponsors: Sometimes, sponsors take huge financial blows that make it hard or impossible to make

donations.

› Loss of Shops & labs: We’ve had to move our workspace twice before, so a third time is always a threat.

› Change in school policy/Loss of District Support: With such a rapidly changing political environment in our Board of Ed, their massive support for us now could shrink at some point.

› Loss of Mentor Interest: Our mentor list is rapidly changing, and we can have a year where more mentors leave than join.


Made Possible By

AND THE FOLLOWING FAMILIES:

› Steele

› Trivedi

› Gorka

› Stark

Documents

Team 303 Business Plan