I need help finding a good Christmas gift for my mentor.
What do they like? You could begin with their interests and then narrow it down.
get them a vice with their name engraved on it
Be authentic - a card / video prezo that highlights impact of mentor personally, team, club… even simple thanks is more than most mentors/coaches/advisors expect - bottom line be authentic - will make the most grizzly coaches and mentors feel appreciated
Then think, how to pay it forward? Be kind to alliance partners, younger age teams in district, teammates, so-called rival schools … etc
Truth be told - that latter point of paying it forward is the greatest gift for any coach/mentor/teacher !
Be safe, be kind, and share your passion and opportunities for robotics to all around you!
I’d be happy with a working autonomous routine. That would be the best gift of all.
- An hour build session without squabbles
- getting the notebook in shape
- clean up the progamming directory so there isn’t a “final”, “newest final”, “latest edition of the final”, “newest and final final final” names on the code.
- sorting the small parts so it’s not a 5 min dig to find a thin lock nut
- Go back and put bearing blocks on ALL the shafts now, rather than the night before an event.
… ya know the simple, home made gifts that are the best …
Thank you guys for the suggestions! I was thinking of a working robot and a new popcorn machine cause she loves popcorn. But, alas too far out of the budget. And it’s not like the schools gonna fund us anymore.
then get her a bag of caramel popcorn/ chocolate popcorn/cheesy popcorn
Get him/her a framed picture of Drow.
In all seriousness though what about just a pic/letter of your team saying thank you for all of the hours that he/she likely volunteers so you guys can pursue robotics.
Bruh if I did thst my mentor would be so confused on who thst is.
Custom shirt could be cool. Maybe you have a team shirt that you could customize just for him. That’s what we did for our mentor when it was his birthday
Honestly, a letter thanking her for her time, and effort will be appreciated more than you could ever know.
Being a teacher/coach can often be a thankless job. So much of what mentors do for teams involves countless hours “behind the scenes” in the form of organizing, fundraising, paperwork, ordering, and all sorts of other time-consuming menial tasks, and sometimes we, unfortunately, have to deal with people who are less than supportive. I definitely have days when I ask myself WHY do I volunteer to do this? On those days, I open a drawer in my desk where I have every letter that a student or team member has ever written to me over the years. I start reading through them, and immediately get flooded with good memories, and I remember why it is all worth it.
We do what we do to help the kids. The kids are what matters, and hearing from one of them that I made a difference to them means the world to me. I’m sure it does to your coach too.
A small gift card or something is always appreciated as well, but the card it comes in, and especially the message written in it mean more than any gift could.
If all else fails, wine works…
Lol. I mean abit weird but.
“Stay away from wine. Wine is crying juice.”
- Donna Meagle
I would recommend just cleaning up all the parts and the entire robot room.
Would you say you want a new autonomous for Christmas? #PigPenParodies
I’m gonna combine practically everything, everyone said. (Except wine) I’m also going to give her a clean room to start the year because she recently got hip surgery and she can’t walk. (Kinda hoping she doesn’t see the forum.)