Meet the Champion Org Ambassador building robots, resilience and role models

We’re already a term into the season. Teams are finding their feet, attending their scrimmages and being inspired by each other’s progress. Team Leads can trust their team will have a robot to compete with come Qualifiers. But what about our Champion Org Ambassadors who work away to support teams, not just their own, throughout the year? 

We asked Ivan Roulson, Champ Org Ambassador for the South West at The King’s School in Devon, about his experience so far as a Champ Org Ambassador and what it’s been like going from competing in his first year to leading others in his second. 

How’s your first term as a Champ Org Ambassador been? 

It’s been an interesting journey so far and I’m excited to see where it goes. I’m getting into a good place with it all on how to lead and support.

I have a lot of ideas and it’s just about finding time to implement them. I really enjoyed the Game Changer Conference because it was great to meet the rest of the ambassadors there. It made it all the more real. It’s the incidental conversations and meeting other people involved that make you see how valuable it is. 

What have you learned as a Champion Org Ambassador? 

I’ve found from speaking to my colleagues that my own confidence as an Ambassador is rising. I look back on what I’ve done so far and think “If I’ve done that, I can do this.” 

I’ve been glad to lend a hand where I can and I’ve had support from the rest of the Ambassadors too which helped overcome a bit of imposter syndrome at the start. It’s nice to know we’re in this together. That network is something I’m not used to. I’ve been in my own room teaching for what seems like so long and suddenly, I have this community I can go to for help.

What makes being a Champion Org Ambassador so rewarding?

For me, I haven’t done much outside of teaching or with other schools and I’m now in my 27th year of teaching. So it was nice to be given this chance to do this and it’s boosted my confidence. It’s lit a fire which had started to go out over the years. Now I can reach outside the classroom and I’ve never really known how to do that before. It’s sparked something I didn’t know how to do and I think it’s having a positive effect on lots of other people as well. 

What’s your ambition for the future of the South West hub?

I’d really like the hub to blossom. It’s been really nice having links with other schools and I’d like to do that more. I’m starting to break the ice and show them what’s possible. 

Unfortunately, the storm meant we had to cancel our December scrimmage but we’ve now rescheduled it for January and I’m thinking “We could invite some other schools too.” I’m quite enthused that they might be able to come along, see what it looks like and have a chat with our team. Hopefully, they’ll want to be involved next year. 

My other plan is to ask industry role models to talk about their careers. I think it will add even more value to the scrimmage and will make that important connection between what teams are doing and the real world. I’m looking forward to coming back after Christmas and knowing who I want to talk to and how to do it.

Some members of Team BarrelBots at the UK Championship 2023-24

What’s your advice for FIRST Tech Challenge UK teams?

When advertising for team members, tell them it’s More Than Robots. I get students who say “I’m not very good at the mechanical bit” and it’s great because there are so many other roles. There’s someone in my team who I had no idea could draw and has now designed the team logo. I think it’s quite meaningful for students to be able to do something and it not just be looked at as a 6 or a 7, but really be appreciated by a team.

So my advice would be to not just look in the normal places but to advertise widely and say “We need someone who’s good at graphics,” or “We need someone who can run a spreadsheet and manage our money,” and maybe they have an interest in robots too. Look at the list of team roles but absorb it with joy rather than a checklist because somewhere in your school, there’s someone who can make a great spreadsheet or someone who has a fire in their belly to do CAD. 

What do you wish you knew when you first started as a Champion Org Ambassador? 

Be aware that there is a team to help you. There are Champion Organisations, other teams in your hub, and staff at your school too. If you say “I’m struggling with this,” there will be people with different skills from different departments to help you.

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