FLL/Vex IQ Mentoring

One of the many service opportunities for High School robotics members is to help mentor the 6th grade FLL and the 7th and 8th grade Vex IQ teams. Read below to learn more about what mentoring means within each program.

FLL

Vex IQ

The FLL teams are full of energy-filled 12 year olds who are in need of some guidance while they learn how to design, build, and program a robot. The job for High Schoolers looking to help requires them to be able to steer the 6th graders in the right direction. People volunteering learn to live by the motto "Show not tell", we want the 6th graders to be able to understand and learn from their mistakes rather than just have someone else solve things for them.

Most Vex IQ members have had some robotics experience prior to starting the program, but it is definitely not expected. The role of the student mentors is to introduce them to new techniques and strategies that they used in either Vex IQ or in their current Vex competition. As students move into the Vex IQ program, they start to learn about how to decide which mechanisms are the best for their robots when building, this is due to the strong implement of the engineering design process that they learn early on. The mentors add guidance into determining the best choices for their robots and helping them with small technical bumps along the way.