Join Our Team!
And Join Us in Evolving Leaders of the Future
Our Schedule
January: FRC build season begins with kickoff, where the new game for the year is revealed.
January-March (build season): Meetings are at Forsythe Middle Schools machine shop Monday-Thursday 6pm-9pm, and Saturdays 9am-5pm. However, meeting times per person will depend on the work needed per week, per subteam (see ‘Our Subteams’), depending on the progress of the robot.
March-April (competition season): Each season, we compete in two District Competitions, typically one at the beginning of March and one at the end. Then, dependent on how we place in those competitions, we may qualify for the Michigan State Championship, which is typically at Saginaw Valley State University at the beginning of April. After that, depending on our ranking out of the entire state, we may qualify for the World Championship in Houston.
May-August (off season): When we aren’t rushing to build a robot or at competitions, we are participating in outreach events for the community, recruiting for our team, captains elections, doing off season projects (such as calibrating a swerve drive), updating modules, and preparing for the next season. This is where our team experiences the most growth and helping our community.
September-December (training season): As soon as school starts at the end of August, we begin modules at our shop, which are hands-on training sessions run by subteam leaders and mentors (see leaders and mentors page) that teach new and incoming students how to properly handle tools, train them for tasks they will have to complete during build season, and learning to solve possible problems they may encounter. We also attend off-season competitions such as Kettering and Bloomfield Girls Competition. During training season, we are also preparing for the off-season competition that we started in 2018 called WAPUR (Washtenaw Area Pickup Robotics). The Ann Arbor District Library designs a game (Similar to FRC games) that teams have to design a robot around. The purpose of this is to apply the skills members have learned during modules to a real life robot.
New Student FAQs
The Ratatoasters have a select amount of space available for Forsythe eighth graders. Students will be invited to the team based on their demonstrated capabilities and experience in other robotics programs, as recommended by their team mentors. Students from Forsythe Middle School are the primary pool, but other students from middle schools that feed into Skyline may also be invited.
Students who do not participate as eighth graders have no disadvantage compared to those who do. Eighth graders are included in the program primarily to account for overpopulation in middle school teams, and space is limited. Please email the team if you have any questions; however, please be aware that decisions are made at the sole discretion of team faculty.
Yes, there is a team due of approximately $250, due before the main season starts (~December/January). Students are welcome to attend fall practices before paying team dues, and are in fact encouraged to do so and learn more about the team before committing.
Additionally, students who opt to travel with the team to the State and World Championships (if qualifing) will have additional travel fees.
For all team fees and dues, need-based scholarships are available. Please contact a faculty advisor if you would like to request a scholarship.
You are not required to do anything in advance! Show up to practices in the fall, and we will teach you what you need to know.
If you are curious or are looking for opportunities to expand your knowledge outside of practices, our public resources are a good place to start. Your subteam leads may also have suggestions on outside resources that they appreciated (such as other teams’ build threads, strategy seminars, programming courses, graphic design guides, design challenges, resource libraries, etc), and can point you in the right direction
For sure! Many team members are in band and on various sports teams. We do not require attendance, so while it may seem like we practice a lot, rarely is the whole team present at any given practice. Students can fit practices into their schedules as they see best, and are encouraged to take time off if they need to focus on academics, need a break to prevent burnout, or have conflicting commitments that they consider higher priority.
Be aware that a consistent lack of attendance may make it difficult to know what’s going on, as robotics can become fast-moving during the build and competition season. Additionally, lower attendance will affect your experience levels and comfortability with more complex tasks, which may affect how you become involved in the team and your ability to assume leadership positions.
Nope, our team accepts anyone! We conduct subteam-specific training modules in the fall to help all students level-up their knowledge before the main season. You aren’t required to commit to one subteam, but as subteams work in parallel students may find it more convenient to specialize. During Modules, you’ll learn and train among both new and veteran members alike, and after completing Modules you’ll have the freedom to take on projects as any other member does. Plenty of students join later in their high-school careers, some with little to no robotics/STEM experience, and go on to pursue leadership positions and achieve excellence.