About JUMPSTART

What is JUMPSTART?

The idea of JUMPSTART Training Initiative took root back in December of 2014 when 4607’s Captain, Emma S, saw a need for training sessions for FRC teams in Central Minnesota. This drive led to the creation of the JUMPSTART Training Event at St Cloud State.

This project holds dear to the motto of FRC 4607 ‘Innovation Cannot Happen in Isolation’. The success of the team is due to this ideal. This mantra, along with the drive to provide 'access and opportunity for all' helped to define what JUMPSTART would become today.

Fast forward to the summer of 2015: FRC 4607 mentors Alex Jurek and Ryan Swanson approached St Cloud State University representatives about providing a training event, SCSU was all in and ready to host. The only reservation was that there would be no registration fee. Throughout the five seasons of offering these sessions, we have never collected a single dollar from our attendees. And when the event is longer than four hours, we make certain to provide sustenance to our attendees - again, free of charge to the attendees.

The JUMPSTART Training Initiative

JUMPSTART Training Events have key components:

  1. They are free for all attendees.

  2. A la Carte style training; bring in the best available teams/individuals/partners to provide content for training sessions that will enhance the FRC experience for our students, mentors, and FRC family.

  3. Industry partnership when/where available.

  4. Provide for networking amongst team members.

Our initial charge of providing content to FRC teams and their members was incredibly successful because of the format that we developed. Through our growth mentality and sticking to our key components, we have realized that there is a large market for training in the areas of mentors, sponsors, and industry partnerships. With this charge, Todd Kruse (Mentor 7068 & 4607) and Cory Applegate (Mentor 3244) pushed hard to open up more opportunities for not only the FRC Community, but also engaging with local industry partners. Their ideals made possible for new partnerships with entities such as Medtronic, Delta ModTech, Digi-Key, and numerous other industry leaders in Minnesota.

As the idea took root, more opportunities came on line. In 2019 JUMPSTART partnered with Medtronic to expand the access to JUMPSTART Training events. This partnership will be key to open up all of the FRC community to more JUMPSTART events in the near future.

In 2017, FRC 4607's Maggie Maine saw a need to help grow the knowledge base for mentors. Now partnering with the Minnesota Robotics Coaches Association, the JUMPSTART for Mentors brand will be expanding over the next few seasons to concentrate on FRC’s most valuable resource: the mentors themselves.

Since 2015 JUMPSTART has:

  1. Hosted 327 sessions

  2. Had over 3800 attendees

  3. Hosted 15 unique training events (FLL, FTC, FRC, and Mentor training)


Who we are:

Alex Jurek - Head Coach of FRC 4607

Todd Kruse - Mentor of FRC 7068, 4607 & 8516, Engineer at Delta ModTech

Corey Applegate - Mentor of FRC 3244, Engineer at Central McGowan

Charlene 'Char' Provost - Mentor of FRC 7068, Sr Director at Medtronic Knowledge Center

Ryan Swanson - Mentor of FRC 4607, founder and President of COR Robotics

Chris Roadfeldt - Mentor at Large in Minnesota