Information and Guidelines for Parents/Students

Membership on the ViperBots Robotics team is a wonderful opportunity for your student. This activity offers high school students the chance to work with engineers, programmers, and business professionals to receive “hands-on” experience in engineering problem solving, programming, and running a business. It will open doors to new ways of thinking, opportunity for advancement, and a better understanding of their future.

Membership on a FIRST team demands a serious commitment. It is of utmost importance to safeguard the valuable time of our professional mentors and parent mentors as well as our dedicated students. Team members who miss meetings or team build time disrupt the flow of activities and fail to receive critical information. 

ViperBots is NOT a “club.” It is an organization of highly competitive teams.  Each ViperBots team has regular practice times just like any other sport or competitive activity at Vandegrift HS. We require a serious weekly commitment that may not be the best fit for all applicants.  Regardless of other extra-curricular activities, ViperBots are expected to attend all team meetings and meet the appropriate FRC or FTC time requirements. We do regular peer reviews, time and grade checks to make sure ViperBots are meeting the minimum expectations of teammates and faculty members, Robotcs Lab hour participation, and are maintaining passing grades. 

Applicants who are heavily involved with other extra-curricular activities should consider carefully if ViperBots Robotics is the right program for them. 

We expect our ViperBots to give the same commitment as they would to Band, Athletics, Choir, Theater, DECA, FFA, DI, Vision, Legacies,  or any other heavily time-consuming activities.  In order for the teams to be successful, each member of the team must be a contributing member.  ViperBots that treat robotics as a low priority or a “drop in when convenient” activity will be dismissed from the program. As a reminder, there is no refund of the participation fee if a student is dismissed or quits.

Much of our funding comes from businesses that recognize the value of supporting an engineering program like FIRST in our increasingly technical world. In the event that we are unable to find sufficient funding, it will be necessary for you to provide additional funding beyond the participation fee to cover expenses.

While we encourage you to give your student as much leeway as possible, some of the machinery and equipment we use, though under supervision by an adult, can be quite dangerous if misused and may not be appropriate for all applicants. All students are required to complete a basic online Safety Quiz and an online OSHA 10-Hour General Industry (Manufacturing) training independently during the summer before the Fall semester. The online OSHA 10-Hour course code will be provided to the students at the end of May.