Hi StudentsFIRST community!

I have great news. Here in the land of Jack in the Bot an adult mentor corroborated everything I’ve been saying!! 

As I’ve shared with you already, coaches and mentors are building Jack in the Bot’s robots instead of the students, creating a deeply unfair and corrupt environment. This includes adults taking over student roles, intimidating students into silence, and misusing public funds. Further, they have robbed student-led teams of the opportunity for fair competitions. 

I’m excited to report that very recently a Jack in the Bot mentor anonymously spoke with a local newspaper.

From the Tribune:

What the Lees say is “100% accurate,” said an adult insider in Jackson Robotics who spoke with the Tribune on the condition of anonymity. This person was among the more than one dozen adult mentors for Jackson’s championship-winning team.

“Adults make 100% of the decisions, of course by guiding the kids in the direction they want. Make them feel a part. The real design, crafting, building? That’s all adults,” the insider said. 

One of the mentor coaches designs and builds the robot in his home shop, the insider said. It corroborates one of the accusations the Lees have made. 

The insider said they get the feeling that quite a few adults in the team seek to achieve “unrealized dreams” of success in robotics by what is ultimately a student program.

Some have challenged this by saying, “But FIRST is okay with adults building the robots!” This is true. FIRST does not care about student experiences and will not intervene even in situations where adults completely sideline and silence students in order to monopolize the thrill of robot development and stroke their own egos with a fistful of medals. 

However, FIRST is not the only force to consider.

Even if FIRST is okay with adults building the robots, there are others who are not.

School Boards who are tasked with protecting student interests and STEM education should look at what Jack in the Bot is doing and say, “Not on my watch!”

Taxpayers who fund the robots and expenses for the adult coaches and mentors should stand up and say, “Not with my money!”

This is the good news: FIRST is not our only line of defense against adults who usurp student roles. School boards and taxpayers ultimately control the rules and the money. 

You can help! I’m collecting stories from our robotics community to share here locally. My perspective alone doesn’t show the full picture. Your voice is important and powerful. If you can, please email me your thoughts at Contact@StudentsFIRST.tech. Here are some prompts in case you need a starting point:

• Have you competed against Jack in the Bot? If so, what was it like? 
• How did you feel when they won the World Championship? 
• Why is it important to you to address the problem of mentor-built bots in FRC? 

Thank you for continuing the fight for what’s right and I’ll keep you posted!Just to refresh your memory on how bad the problem is, here’s Jack in the Bot’s adult Drive Coach, Patrick Woolfenden, competing at IRI last year. 
Photo credit: FUN