Entry Path stones 1-3: FIRST Robotics overview, 2890 Our Story, Youth Safety

Young mentor/alumni voice. Full content — not abbreviated.
Stone 1: FIRST origin, 4 programs, 3 core values, season structure, match breakdown
Stone 2: Team history 2009-present, Collective name, roles, expectations, gear
Stone 3: Tool-specific safety (lathe, mill, drill press, welder, grinder, band saw),
         electrical safety, FIRST Youth Protection, online conduct, consequences

Entry Path page links all three stones in order.
Status: draft — not yet published to Quartz

training/modules/2890-our-story.md

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+---
+title: "Hawk Collective 2890 — Our Story"
+tags:
+  - onboarding
+  - 2890
+  - team
+  - history
+  - identity
+type: training-module
+track: entry
+owner: 2890
+draft: true
+---
+
+# Hawk Collective 2890 — Our Story
+
+## Who We Are
+
+Hawk Collective 2890 is Hickory High School's robotics team. We compete in the FIRST Chesapeake District, which covers Virginia and Maryland. We are builders, programmers, designers, welders, machinists, and strategists.
+
+We're not the biggest team. We're not the richest team. But we've been at this for sixteen years, and we're still showing up.
+
+**Rookie year:** 2009
+**Location:** Hickory High School, Chesapeake, Virginia
+**School address:** 1996 Hawk, Chesapeake VA 23322 — phone: 1-757-421-HAWK
+**Competition area:** Chesapeake District (Virginia/Maryland)
+
+## Why "Collective"
+
+Most teams call themselves "The Hawks" or "Team 2890." We say Hawk *Collective*.
+
+"Collective" isn't a marketing term. It's a statement about what we believe: the team is bigger than any one person. If one of us wins, we all win. If one of us is struggling, we all step up. The robot doesn't get built by a star — it gets built by a team.
+
+When the 2009 senior class picked that name, they were saying something true about themselves. They knew they'd built something bigger than their own experience. The name stuck because the idea behind it was right.
+
+## How We Got Here
+
+### 2009 — The Beginning
+
+A group of Hickory students looked at what other schools were doing and decided they wanted in. No robotics program existed at the school. No shop, no tools, no real budget, no experience. What they had was a gymnasium they could use for storage and a salvage yard of mechanical parts.
+
+Six weeks to build a robot from nothing. They didn't know what they were doing. They did it anyway.
+
+That original team of maybe 10 students is the reason you're reading this now. They made the space for everyone who came after.
+
+### 2010–2015 — The Learning Years
+
+These were the years of figuring it out. How to build something that doesn't fall apart. How to program it so it actually does what you want. How to compete without falling apart when things go wrong.
+
+The team survived on bake sales, donations from local businesses, and the kind of stubbornness that comes from not knowing any better. Budget was nonexistent. Every tool was earned. Every competition was a road trip in someone's parents' van.
+
+These were also the years that built the culture. The older students who figured things out started teaching the younger ones. The idea that you help the person next to you — that you don't hoard knowledge — started here. It's still how we operate.
+
+### 2016–2020 — The Growth
+
+The team got real. Students started bringing their younger siblings. The school started putting real money into the shop. Mentors from industry started showing up — engineers from the naval shipyard, machinists from local manufacturing, teachers who saw what this team was actually building in students.
+
+This is when the team stopped being "some kids in a gym with a robot" and started being what it is today. The shop got actual tools. The team got actual space. The expectations got higher.
+
+### 2021–Present — What You Joined
+
+The team that exists right now, today, in 2026. We've got a culture of showing up, learning out loud, and not quitting when it gets hard. We have seniors who came in as freshmen and learned to weld, code, and design because someone before them decided to teach instead of just doing it themselves.
+
+We're still not the biggest or the richest team in the district. But we've got something that matters: a team that believes the person next to them deserves what they know.
+
+## How We're Organized
+
+### Students Run This
+
+Not metaphorically. Actually.
+
+Students make the real decisions on design, build strategy, competition moves, and team priorities. Mentors teach, guide, keep people safe, and share what they've learned. But the work belongs to the people doing it.
+
+If you're a sophomore and you want to own the swerve drivetrain — meaning be the person who understands it, maintains it, and fixes it when it breaks — you can. You just have to learn the fundamentals first and prove you won't break something expensive on a guess.
+
+The point of this team is to make you capable, not dependent. Every senior on this team should be able to teach what they know. That's how we get better.
+
+### The Roles
+
+**Build** — Mechanical systems. Welding, machining, assembly, field setup. If it moves or holds something, Build makes it happen.
+
+**Electrical** — Power and sensing. Wiring, pneumatics, battery management, sensor integration. The nervous system and circulatory system of the robot.
+
+**Programming** — Robot code, vision systems, autonomous routines, driver station setup. The brain of the robot.
+
+**Scouting** — Data and strategy. Watching other teams, analyzing match data, informing alliance selection. Intelligence for the competition.
+
+**Media** — Team branding, documentation, outreach, social media. How the world sees us.
+
+You can do more than one. Most people do. Nobody starts knowing everything.
+
+## What We Expect From You
+
+**Show up.**
+
+Consistency beats talent. The person who never misses a meeting will outlast the genius who shows up when they feel like it. You don't have to be the best builder or the fastest coder on day one. You just have to keep showing up.
+
+**Ask questions.**
+
+Every expert on this team was once a beginner who asked. There are no stupid questions in this shop. There are only questions you didn't ask and now something's broken. If you're confused about how something works, ask the person next to you. If they're busy, wait and ask a mentor. If you still don't understand, ask again.
+
+**Admit when you're stuck.**
+
+"I don't know" is not a weakness. It's the starting line for learning. The only thing that will get you in real trouble is pretending you know something you don't. Nobody is going to yell at you for not knowing something. They will yell at you for breaking something expensive because you didn't ask.
+
+**Help others.**
+
+If you know something that someone else doesn't, you haven't earned the right to keep it to yourself. The person who helps others doesn't lose their advantage — they strengthen the whole team. A team where everyone shares what they know is a team that wins.
+
+**Take care of the space.**
+
+The shop, the tools, the robots, the field elements — these belong to the team. Not to you. Not to any one person. Leave them better than you found them. If something is broken, tell someone. If something is about to break, tell someone. If you borrowed something, return it.
+
+## What We Believe
+
+> We show up. We learn out loud. We don't quit.
+
+This isn't a motto. It's how we operate when things get hard.
+
+If something breaks, we fix it. If someone is behind, we catch them up. If the game is hard, we figure out a way. If we lose, we shake hands and come back smarter. If something isn't working, we don't pretend it is — we acknowledge it and we solve it.
+
+You will fail at something on this team. Everyone does. The difference between the person who grows and the person who quits is that one of them keeps going after failing.
+
+## The Gear We Run
+
+Team 2890's current standard drivetrain is **MK4i swerve modules** with **NEO Vortex** motors. If those words mean nothing to you yet, that's fine — you'll learn. Here's the short version:
+
+**MK4i swerve** means each wheel can steer and drive independently. It's a more complex drivetrain than tank drive, but it gives you directional control that's worth it for most game tasks.
+
+**NEO Vortex** is the motor. Made by REV Robotics. Fast, powerful, and reliable when configured correctly.
+
+Each motor runs a **SPARK Flex** controller, which handles the CAN communication between the motor and the roboRIO (the robot's main computer).
+
+For vision, we use **PhotonVision** with **Limelight** sensors. This lets the robot see the field, locate itself, and aim at targets automatically.
+
+If you don't know what any of that means yet — good. That's what the garden is for.
+
+---
+
+**Next:** [[youth-safety|Youth Safety]] — read this before you touch anything in the shop

training/modules/first-robotics-overview.md

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+---
+title: "FIRST Robotics — The Big Picture"
+tags:
+  - onboarding
+  - first
+  - history
+  - philosophy
+  - gracious-professionalism
+  - coopertition
+type: training-module
+track: entry
+owner: 2890
+draft: true
+---
+
+# FIRST Robotics — The Big Picture
+
+> "The vision is to transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated, where young people dream of becoming science and technology heroes."
+> — Dean Kamen, Founder of FIRST
+
+## What Is FIRST
+
+FIRST stands for **For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology**. It was founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen — an inventor best known for the Segway, but more importantly, a guy who looked at American culture and decided that kids needed to see engineers as heroes, not nerds.
+
+The problem Kamen saw: science and tech were being taught as abstract, boring, solo work done by people who didn't know how to talk to anyone. Meanwhile, athletics got all the glory — the team jerseys, the pep rallies, the crowd cheering. He thought, why can't building a robot feel like that? Why can't engineering be just as exciting, just as celebrated?
+
+So he built FIRST. And it changed everything.
+
+Every year, FIRST releases a new robotics competition. Teams of students — high schoolers, mostly 14 to 18 years old — have **six weeks** to design, build, and program a robot that can compete in that year's game. Not a toy. Not a kit you assemble from instructions. A real machine, built from scratch, that has to actually work under pressure on a competition field.
+
+There are four programs under the FIRST umbrella:
+
+- **FIRST Lego League (FLL)** — ages 9-14, robots made from Lego parts
+- **FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC)** — ages 12-18, more sophisticated robots, still student-built
+- **FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC)** — the big one, what we do at Hawk Collective 2890
+- **FIRST Championship** — the world finals where the best teams from every district compete
+
+We're FRC. 3,000+ teams worldwide. The biggest robotics competition for high school students that exists.
+
+If you've never seen an FRC match, stop reading this and watch one. Search "FRC 2026 match" on YouTube. Watch three minutes. Then come back. It'll make everything else on this page make sense.
+
+## Why FIRST Exists
+
+Here's the uncomfortable truth about how most schools work: you learn something, you take a test, you forget it. The system is built for compliance and individual performance. Collaboration is a footnote. Failure is something to avoid, not learn from.
+
+FIRST is the opposite.
+
+In FIRST, you will fail. I'm not being negative — I'm being honest. Your first prototype will break. Your code won't work the first time. Your robot will do something embarrassing at your first competition. This is not a bug. This is the entire point.
+
+The work is hard. The problems are new every year. The deadline is always coming. You have to work with people who have different skills than you. You have to ask for help and give help. You have to learn to lose without quitting and win without being insufferable.
+
+That's what FIRST is building. The robot is the vehicle. The point is what happens to the people who build it.
+
+> Students who participate in FIRST are twice as likely to major in science or engineering. That's not a marketing stat — that's a documented outcome of what happens when you give young people real problems to solve with real consequences and real teammates.
+
+## The Three Core Values
+
+FIRST has three guiding principles. These aren't suggestions. They're how you're supposed to act, on and off the field. Everyone in FIRST — students, mentors, volunteers — is supposed to live by these.
+
+### Gracious Professionalism™
+
+Coined by Woodie Flowers, a MIT professor and FRC legend who died in 2009. Gracious Professionalism means: compete hard, but treat people with respect. Win or lose, you shake hands. If another team needs help, you give it — even if it helps them beat you later.
+
+The goal is to raise the bar for everyone. Not knock others down to raise yourself.
+
+No trash talk. No sabotage. No burning bridges. If you won because you cheated or because you refused to help someone, you didn't really win.
+
+This sounds soft until you see it in action. Watch an FRC match where two robots from rival schools bump into each other mid-game. Watch them both stop, assess, and figure out how to keep going. That's gracious professionalism.
+
+### Coopertition™
+
+Cooperate + competition. You can compete fiercely and still work with other teams. In FRC tournaments, teams form **alliances** of three robots for each match. That means you're often working with teams you just met, who might be your competitors in a later round.
+
+It sounds contradictory. It's not. It's how the real world works. You can have strong opinions about a competitor and still find ways to collaborate when it matters.
+
+### Invention and Innovation
+
+No two FIRST seasons look alike. The challenge changes. The field changes. The scoring changes. The strategy changes. You cannot coast on last year's winning design. You have to think about the problem, not just copy a solution.
+
+This is the value I personally think matters most for your future. The ability to look at a new problem and figure out how to solve it, without someone handing you the answer — that's rare. FIRST gives you practice at it.
+
+## The Competition Structure
+
+### District Events
+
+Most FRC teams compete in district events first. These are smaller competitions run by regional FIRST organizations. We compete in the **Chesapeake District**, which covers Virginia and Maryland. Most of our travel is within a few hours of home.
+
+District events are intense. You show up, you calibrate your robots, you compete in qualification matches where the alliances are randomly assigned. You scout other teams — watch their robots, figure out their strengths and weaknesses, plan your strategy. Then comes alliance selection, where the top teams pick their partners for the finals.
+
+Points earned at district events accumulate over the season. Teams need enough points to qualify for the District Championship.
+
+### District Championship
+
+Top qualifying teams from the district face off. This is where it gets serious. The competition is harder, the stakes are higher, and the field is smaller. In the Chesapeake District, only the top teams make it this far.
+
+### FIRST Championship
+
+The world championship. All districts from all over the planet send their best. For most teams, this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The energy in the arena is unlike anything else in robotics — 10,000 students in one building, all cheering for engineering.
+
+Hawk Collective 2890 has never been to Championship. That's not a secret. It's a goal.
+
+## How a Season Works
+
+### January — Kickoff
+
+Somewhere between the first and second week of January, FIRST releases the new game. It's a global event — every team worldwide watches the same stream at the same moment. The reveal is theatrical, sometimes with a celebrity host or a surprise guest.
+
+You get the game manual, the field specs, and six weeks on the clock. That's it. That's your season.
+
+### Build Season — Six Weeks
+
+This is the intense part. Most teams work nights and weekends. You design, prototype, fail, redesign, build, wire, program, test, break something, fix it, and repeat until you run out of time.
+
+The last week before the build deadline is when the real crunch happens. The robot has to be bagged and tagged — no more work allowed after the deadline unless it's at a competition.
+
+If that sounds stressful, it is. But it's also when you learn the most. There's no substitute for real pressure with real stakes.
+
+### Competition Season
+
+After bag day, you have a few weeks before your first event. Time to practice driving, refine autonomous routines, prepare your scouting system, and get the robot ready to ship.
+
+Then: district events. Qualification matches, alliance selection, playoffs. You compete, you learn, you come back and fix things. Some teams go to two or three events before they're done.
+
+### Off-Season
+
+This is where real growth happens for most teams. No competition pressure. Time to train new members, fix the problems you identified during the season, redesign the things that didn't work, and get better at the skills that take time — machining, coding, driver practice.
+
+Summer is also when most teams attend off-season events — competitions that don't count toward qualification but give you match experience in a lower-stakes environment. This is how good teams get great.
+
+## How a Match Works
+
+Every FRC match runs the same way:
+
+### Autonomous Period — 15 Seconds
+
+The robot runs pre-programmed instructions. No driver control. This is where good programming pays off — the robot has to make decisions and move without human input.
+
+Autonomous is often the difference between winning and losing. A robot that can score during autonomous gives its alliance a head start that Teleop has to capitalize on.
+
+### Teleoperated Period — 2 Minutes
+
+The drivers take control. This is where human skill matters most — the driver, the manipulator, the human player, and whoever's calling the strategy from the stands.
+
+During Teleop, alliances score points by completing game objectives. Scoring changes every year. Sometimes it's stacking cubes on a scale. Sometimes it's shooting balls into a goal. Sometimes it's climbing. Every year is different.
+
+### End Game — Final 30 Seconds
+
+Usually the hardest scoring objectives. The robots are trying to do things like climb, perch on a rung, or make last-second shots. This is where matches are decided — a good End Game can overcome a rough Teleop.
+
+## The Point Isn't the Robot
+
+Read this sentence twice: the robot is a means to an end.
+
+You will spend hundreds of hours on this machine. You will miss sleep. You will argue with teammates about design decisions. You will have moments of pure frustration when nothing works.
+
+And then you will have moments when everything clicks — when the code runs clean, when the mechanism works for the first time, when the driver pulls off a play you didn't think was possible.
+
+The robot is the tool. The point is what you learn making it:
+
+- How to solve problems when you don't have all the answers
+- How to work with people who don't think like you
+- How to fail and come back
+- How to ask good questions
+- How to finish something hard
+
+If you leave this team knowing how to do those things, the robot did its job.
+
+---
+
+**Next:** [[2890-our-story|Hawk Collective 2890 — Our Story]]

training/modules/youth-safety.md

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+---
+title: "Youth Safety"
+tags:
+  - onboarding
+  - safety
+  - conduct
+  - youth-protection
+  - required
+type: training-module
+track: entry
+owner: 2890
+draft: true
+---
+
+# Youth Safety
+
+> Read this before you touch anything in the shop. This is not optional.
+
+## Why This Matters
+
+The robotics shop has real tools. Saws, lathes, grinders, welders, batteries that can start fires if you treat them wrong. The work here is exciting and hands-on — and it will hurt you if you don't respect it.
+
+Safety isn't about following rules because someone told you to. It's about not getting hurt. Everything else follows from that.
+
+I've seen students rush through something because they wanted to get it done, skip a step because it seemed minor, and end up in the emergency room. Not at this team — I've never seen it happen here. But I've seen near-misses that should have been warnings.
+
+The rules in this document exist because someone, somewhere, got hurt doing what you're about to do. Learn from their experience, not your own.
+
+## Workshop Safety — The Non-Negotiables
+
+These are not suggestions. These are how you stay in one piece.
+
+- **Safety glasses on.** Always. Not when you remember, not when it's just a quick cut — always. A particle in your eye will ruin your day permanently.
+- **Closed-toe shoes.** No exceptions in the shop. Flip-flops and sandals are for the beach, not the machine shop.
+- **No working alone.** Every tool operation needs a second person nearby. If you're using a power tool, someone else should be in the shop with you, watching, not just in the building.
+- **Hair tied back.** Loose hair catches in lathes and drill presses. It's an easy fix — ponytail, bun, whatever works.
+- **Gloves only when appropriate.** Not on rotating tools. Gloves can catch on a spinning shaft and pull your hand in. Use gloves for welding, for handling rough materials, for moving heavy things — not for anything with a spinning blade or bit.
+
+## Tool-Specific Rules
+
+### Lathe
+
+A lathe spins your workpiece while you cut into it with a stationary tool. Used for making round parts, cylinders, threads.
+
+**What kills people on lathes:**
+- Loose clothing, rings, watches catching on the spinning stock
+- Holding the workpiece by hand instead of clamping it
+- Reaching across the spinning chuck
+- Not securing the tailstock
+
+**Rules:**
+- No loose clothing, no rings, no watches, no bracelets. Long sleeves are fine but must be fitted at the wrist.
+- Always clamp your workpiece. Never hold it by hand while the lathe is running.
+- Let the tool do the work. Forcing the cutting tool causes chatter, bad parts, and broken tools.
+- If something sounds wrong — a chatter sound, a vibration that isn't normal — stop the machine and check before continuing.
+
+### Mill
+
+A mill holds a cutting tool in a spindle and moves it into your workpiece, which is clamped to a table. Used for flat surfaces, slots, holes, and more complex 3D shapes.
+
+**What kills people on mills:**
+- The spinning endmill catching loose material or clothing
+- Improperly clamped workpieces being thrown by the cutting force
+- Touching the cutting tool while it's still spinning
+
+**Rules:**
+- Secure your workpiece to the table with clamps or a vise before you start. Never rely on the friction of the table alone.
+- Bring the cutter down to the workpiece slowly. Use the rapid override carefully near the material.
+- Let the chip escape. Accumulated chips are hot and can burn. Use a brush or chip hook to clear them, not your fingers.
+- After cutting, let the spindle stop completely before adjusting anything or clearing chips.
+
+### Drill Press
+
+A drill press holds a drill bit and pushes it down into a clamped workpiece. More precise than a hand drill.
+
+**What kills people on drill presses:**
+- Clothing or hair catching on the drill chuck
+- Holding the workpiece by hand instead of clamping it
+- Using too much pressure and breaking the bit
+
+**Rules:**
+- Clamp your workpiece to the table. Never hold it with your hand.
+- Long hair must be tied back. A drill press grabs hair just as easily as a lathe.
+- Use the correct speed for the material and bit size. The drill press speed chart is on the wall by the machine.
+
+### Welder (MIG)
+
+Welding joins metal by melting it with an electric arc and fusing it together. We use MIG welding (Metal Inert Gas), which feeds wire through the gun and uses a shielding gas to protect the weld from contamination.
+
+**What kills people with welders:**
+- Eye damage from the arc flash (not just the flash — it causes actual burns to the cornea)
+- Burns from hot metal
+- Fumes from welding galvanized or painted metal
+- Fire from sparks landing on flammable material
+
+**Rules:**
+- Welding helmet on *before* you strike the arc. Off only after the last weld is complete and cooled.
+- Wear leather gloves, long sleeves, and a closed collar. Sparks go everywhere.
+- Fire extinguisher must be within reach before you start. Know where it is.
+- Ventilation matters. Welding produces fumes that will make you sick if you breathe enough of them. If the space doesn't have good airflow, don't weld until it does.
+- Inspect your equipment before every use: wire spool, ground clamp, cable condition. Damaged equipment doesn't just fail — it can catch fire.
+
+### Angle Grinder
+
+A grinder spins a disc at high speed for cutting or grinding metal. The disc is fragile and can shatter if damaged or misused.
+
+**What kills people with angle grinders:**
+- A cracked or damaged disc exploding at 10,000 RPM
+- The disc grabbing and kicking the tool
+- Sparks igniting flammable material
+
+**Rules:**
+- Inspect the disc before you turn the grinder on. Look for cracks, chips, anything that doesn't look right. If in doubt, don't use it.
+- The guard must be in place. It routes sparks away from you.
+- Hold the grinder with two hands. If it kicks, you want control.
+- Face the grinder away from your body and away from anyone else in the line of fire.
+- Let the disc reach full speed before you touch it to the material. If it sounds wrong, stop and check.
+
+### Band Saw
+
+A band saw has a continuous toothed blade that runs between two wheels. Used for cutting metal stock to length, curved cuts, and more.
+
+**What kills people on band saws:**
+- Reaching across the blade while it's running
+- Removing cutoffs before the blade has stopped
+- Using the wrong blade tension or speed for the material
+
+**Rules:**
+- Never reach over the blade. Ever. Even if it's a small piece.
+- Let the blade come to a complete stop before adjusting the workpiece, changing the blade guide, or removing the cutoff.
+- Remove cutoffs with a push stick or a piece of scrap wood. Not with your fingers. The piece gets hot, and your fingers are in the path of the blade if it slips.
+
+## Electrical Safety
+
+FRC robots run on **12V lead acid batteries** and powerful motors that draw significant current. A fully charged battery can deliver enough current to cause serious burns and start fires if shorted across metal tools.
+
+### Battery Rules
+
+- **Never touch both terminals with metal at the same time.** A wrench or screwdriver across both terminals = instant short = severe burns and possible fire. This is not hypothetical. This has injured FRC students.
+- **Check the battery case for cracks or leaks before you use it.** If the case is damaged, do not charge or use it. Take it to a mentor and tell them.
+- **Charge in a safe area.** Nothing flammable nearby. The charger can produce heat.
+- **Transport upright.** Lead acid batteries can leak acid if tipped. Keep them upright always.
+- **Keep terminals covered.** When a battery is not in use, keep the terminal covers on to prevent accidental shorts.
+
+### When the Robot is Powered
+
+- **No working on electrical systems while the robot is powered.** This means disconnect the battery before you touch anything in the electrical bay. Not "be careful" — disconnect.
+- If you need to test something with power, tell a mentor and make sure you're using proper technique.
+- **If you smell burning — burning plastic, burning metal, anything wrong — disconnect the battery immediately, step back, and tell a mentor.** Do not continue. Do not assume it'll be fine.
+- 12V can also charge capacitors that hold charge after the battery is disconnected. If you're working on high-capacitance circuits, discharge them before touching.
+
+## FIRST Youth Protection
+
+FIRST requires all teams to follow Youth Protection guidelines. These are non-negotiable.
+
+### Two-Deep Leadership
+
+No adult is alone with a student. Ever. If a mentor asks you to stay after a meeting one-on-one, if an adult is regularly messaging you on a private channel, if someone you barely know wants to spend time alone with you — that's not normal. Tell Mr. Slater or a mentor you trust. You will be heard. Nothing you report will get you in trouble for reporting it.
+
+### Background Checks
+
+Every adult who works with students on this team has a current background check on file. If you see a new adult in the shop working with students and you don't recognize them, it's okay to ask if they're on the roster. You have a right to know.
+
+### Communication
+
+Students and mentors communicate in shared team channels. Nobody should be in a private DM relationship with a mentor that nobody else can see. If you get a message that feels wrong — even if you can't explain exactly why — tell someone.
+
+### The Rule
+
+> If something feels wrong, it probably is. Say something.
+
+You will never get in trouble for reporting something. You might get in trouble if you knew something was wrong and stayed quiet.
+
+## Online Conduct
+
+Our team communicates through Discord. This is a professional space, not a gaming chat.
+
+**Be respectful.** What you say here represents the team. Don't forget that other teams, sponsors, and members of the public can see what you post in public channels.
+
+**No harassment, slurs, or targeted cruelty.** Zero tolerance. This includes jokes that aren't jokes, comments about someone's identity or background, and anything that makes another team member feel unsafe.
+
+**No sharing personal information** about yourself or others in public channels. Your real name, your address, your phone number, other people's names — keep it in the team space.
+
+**Keep it on topic in each channel.** #build-chat is for building. #programming is for code. General is for things that don't fit elsewhere.
+
+Violations don't get warnings. They get consequences.
+
+## Consequences
+
+| What Happened | What Happens |
+|--------------|--------------|
+| Minor mistake, nobody hurt | We talk about it. You learn. |
+| Repeated minor mistakes | One-on-one. Parents notified. |
+| Dangerous behavior | Removed from the shop until a safety review. |
+| Intentional harm or harassment | Removed from the team. No debate. |
+
+Mr. Slater makes the call on anything beyond minor. But the point of consequences isn't punishment — it's so everyone goes home in the same condition they arrived.
+
+## When You're Not Sure — Stop and Ask
+
+This is the most important sentence in this document:
+
+> If you don't know how to do something safely, **do not guess**. Ask.
+
+A mentor, a senior student, Mr. Slater — it doesn't matter who. "How do I set up this piece in the mill?" is not a stupid question. "I didn't ask and now my hand is hurt because I assumed I knew what I was doing" is a stupid thing to say to an urgent care nurse.
+
+You will not be judged for not knowing something. You will be judged for not asking.
+
+## Pre-Shop Checklist
+
+Before you touch any tool in the shop, make sure you can answer yes to all seven of these:
+
+- [ ] Safety glasses on
+- [ ] Closed-toe shoes
+- [ ] Hair tied back (if applicable)
+- [ ] A mentor or senior student is in the shop with you
+- [ ] You know where the first aid kit is
+- [ ] You know where the fire extinguisher is
+- [ ] Someone has shown you how to use this tool — not just told you, shown you
+
+If you're not sure about any of these, ask before you start.
+
+---
+
+**Previous:** [[2890-our-story|Hawk Collective 2890 — Our Story]]
+
+**Next:** Complete the Entry Path — you have finished the required onboarding for Hawk Collective 2890. The garden branches from here.

training/pathways/entry-path.md

@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+---
+title: "Entry Path — Everyone Starts Here"
+tags:
+  - pathway
+  - entry
+  - onboarding
+  - required
+type: training-pathway
+track: entry
+owner: 2890
+---
+
+# Entry Path — Everyone Starts Here
+
+> **Required for all team members.** No exceptions. Read in order.
+
+---
+
+Welcome to Hawk Collective 2890.
+
+Before you touch a tool, write a line of code, or step into the shop — walk this path. It doesn't matter if you're a freshman who's never seen a robot or a senior who's been doing this for years. These three stones are for you.
+
+They'll tell you what FIRST is, who we are, and how we stay safe.
+
+---
+
+## Stone 1 — [[first-robotics-overview|FIRST Robotics — The Big Picture]]
+
+What is FIRST? Why does it exist? What do the competitions look like? How does the season work?
+
+Start here to understand the world this team lives in.
+
+---
+
+## Stone 2 — [[2890-our-story|Hawk Collective 2890 — Our Story]]
+
+Who are we? How did we get here? How are we organized? What do we actually believe?
+
+This is the team you're joining. Know it before you help build it.
+
+---
+
+## Stone 3 — [[youth-safety|Youth Safety]]
+
+Required reading. Shop safety, electrical safety, online conduct, FIRST Youth Protection.
+
+Read this before you touch anything in the shop. Keep reading it until the rules aren't rules anymore — they're just how you operate.
+
+---
+
+## After You Finish
+
+You've completed the Entry Path. You've earned the right to call yourself part of the team — not because you read some pages, but because you took the time to understand what you're part of.
+
+From here, the garden branches. Your role, your interests, your questions — they guide you from here.
+
+- Building? → [[swere-training-hub|Swerve Training Hub]]
+- Programming? → [[2890-codebase-index|Codebase Index]]
+- Electrical? → [[power-distribution-hub|Power Distribution Hub]]
+- Something else? → Browse the [[training-hubs|Training Hubs]]
+
+Or keep wandering. The paths cross.
+
+---
+
+*Entry Path — required onboarding for all team members*
+*Voice: Young Alumni / Senior Student*
+*Status: Active*