A: The class is set up for 6 hours a week:  Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 4 to 6 pm.  However, students also can attend Study Hall on Wednesdays from 2:45 to 4, and multiple students do create "quorum": the ability to stay later due to a critical mass of people (or projects).  The average class member spends 6-10 hours a week in class.  However, there is rarely OUTSIDE of class/ club homework, since it's all about the tools, robot, and the things we only have access to inside our shop space mainly!

A: No. Students run website, business, learn tools, sew, do graphic design, T-shirts, buttons, banner, etc, pursue grant writing, marketing, and we build robots and more!  - see Treasure box and FIRST page. 

A: No. there is no required fee that a student/parent needs to pay, to participate in this program.

A: It depends on the activity. -scheduling - what semester / during build season or no? - reference we have students who are in band, wrestling, cheerleading, etc...  but also those who couldn't manage their time.  up to person/grades/time management.

A: Our class has now moved to doing exclusively FRC robots the whole year, with VEX robots being saved for outreach event only. We have not done VEX robotics an event since 2019. 

A: Robotics is an afterschool class, outside of the traditional "1-6" period days. It meets 3 times a week for 2 hours blocked, please look at "Q: How much time a week do you spend in Robotics?" for more information.

A: All life is dangerous.  If you mean:  will you DEFINITELY get injured, bloodied, etc:  go join football and ask that same question. :)  Seriously:  we use industrial power tools, and are a low-end industry shop with the appropriate tools.  Anyone who is playing around with items that can be dangerous to others does get reprimanded, and students are taught about how to use tools and equipment safely.

A: The team travels within the state of California, and the team only go outside the state, for a championship. Each year it depends on which competition we participating in, we have gone to places like San Jose, Morgan, and more.

The time the team travels changes depending on when a copetition is occuring, Off season events are in the October/Fall and our team participates in official FRC competitions during March/April.

A: FRC robots have a 6 week time frame for building, we aim to finish a week ahead of schedule so that we can debug and test drive. VEX on the other hand isn’t timed, you can start building the second you watch the trailer.

A: During our building period for FRC, everyone works on the robot in their own ways, from actually physically building the robot, to drafting code, to writing grants for future projects.

A: you can help by donating! This can be done by donating food/snacks, donating money, helping guiding our students with their ideas/what they are doing, transporting students/things we need for competition, and many more ways. We always appreciate support!!

A: We need sponsors for registering for competitions, buying tools, buying food, paying for hotels for us to stay at while we’re at competitions, and buying materials to make our robot.

A: This is close to a normal class. We usually meet 5 hours a week like most classes although we don’t meet every day. We usually meet 2 hours for 3 days a week(Monday, Thursday, Friday). But robotics is unlike any other class- students will learn skills here that they will not have the opportunity to learn in a regular class!

A:This class counts as a G-type (college prep elective) class. 

FRC (or FIRST robotics competition) is an international competition that involves teams all around the world. Each year a game is released at "Kickoff", which starts the new season. Teams only have a six week period to design, build, and test a robot to compete with. 

FIRST stands for "For Inspiration and Recognition in Science and Technology". It is a global organization that promotes youth involvement in science, technology, and innovation through FRC and FTC (First Tech Challenge) competitions.