Latest from FIRST^® WASHINGTON

Dear FIRST Washington & PNW FIRST family, 

 Thank you for your persistence and patience and for all the great things you’ve done and continue to do in our community. We’re excited to share with you the following updates on our programs: 

 To help you plan  for this season, we have broken our plans out by program below. Keep checking back, we will post updates here!   

 Please note: we do not plan to hold in person events for any program, but we are working with FIRST as well as monitoring State guidelines and if we feel it is safe to hold competitions in person, we are prepared to do so. 

 FIRST LEGO League Challenge 

Community Engagement:  

Keep up with what we are doing with the FLL Community by clicking here 

Here is what we are doing locally to keep our FLL community engaged: 

• We host FLL Coaches chats monthly from 7-8 pm the second Tuesday of each month.  This is an opportunity for coaches to share ideas and/or reach out for support with any challenges they have.  
• We have created FLL Mini Challenges that are released every 2 weeks.  These challenges break down the missions for this season into 6 mini challenges.  The goal is to engage the students and give them something to work toward this fall. 

 We love hearing from you, if you have any additional ideas as to how we can keep the community connected as well as engage our students & mentors, please email Jacque Grimm at jacqueg@firstwa.org  

 FLL Events:
We have made several changes to our events for this season: 

• Events will be remote
• Event dates are not yet set but we are planning for the beginning of March.

 FIRST Tech Challenge 

Community Engagement 

Keep up with what we are doing with the FTC Community by clicking here 

We are working to keep our FTC coaches and community engaged. 

• We are holding FTC Coaches chats monthly from 7-8 pm the last Tuesday of each month. This is an opportunity for coaches to share ideas and/or reach out for support with any challenges they have or working solutions 
• Stay tuned for Mini Challenges for FTC
• Our plan is to have FTC meetings hosted by various teams in Washington details to follow
• FIRSTWA and ORTOP have partnered to host a library of workshop videos that can help teams build skills when they can’t meet in person 

 Please reach out to Kevin Emery at kemery@firstwa.org, he’d welcome hearing from you!  If you have any additional ideas as to how we can keep the community connected as well as engage our students & mentors please let him know. 

 FTC Events:
We have made several changes to our events for this season. 

• Events will be remote
• We still plan to host League events and will put teams into leagues in mid-December or the beginning of January.
• Event dates are not yet set but we are planning for the beginning of March.

 FIRST Robotics Competition 

Community Engagement: 

Keep up with what we are doing with the FRC Community by clicking here 

Keeping our FRC coaches and community engaged is important to us. 

• We are hosting FRC Coaches chats monthly from 7-8 pm the first Tuesday of each month.  This is an opportunity for coaches to share innovative ideas or solutions and/or reach out for support with any challenges they have.  
• In November, we will be starting PNW FRC Team Meetings every Thursday from 6-8.  These meetings will be hosted by different teams and are not only a chance for students & mentors to engage and connect with other teams around the PNW; but also an opportunity for teams to either work on their leadership skills by offering to host a meeting, or expand their team’s skills by attending the weekly meetings.
• FIRSTWA and ORTOP have partnered to host a library of workshop videos that can help teams build skills when they can’t meet in person 
• FIRST has added 3 exciting new remote engagement opportunities, for the 2021 FRC season, to ensure everyone has a chance to participate and to keep the momentum of the FIRST experience going through continued innovation, teamwork, skills building and FUN!  For more info on these offerings, check out Frank’s Blog here.

 Please let us know if you have any additional ideas as to how we can keep the community connected as well as engage our students & mentors. Email Adrienne Rime at arime@firstwa.org  with any suggestions you have.  

 FRC Events: 

• To address the uncertainties and range of restrictions brought on by COVID-19, FIRST has made the tough decision to open the FIRST Robotics Competition registration, the week of October 5th, built around a season experience that does not include in-person competitions.  
• In January FIRST will re-evaluate the possibility of in-person competitions should conditions change. At that time, only teams that have registered for the 2021 season will be qualified to compete at an in-person event, should they happen, and there will be an additional fee for an in-person event.
• We are prepared to hold in person events, if FIRST gives us the go-ahead AND state regulations in both Washington and Oregon allow in person competitions.  

 What can you and your team do now? 

1. Register your team for the current season
2. Apply for FIRSTHQ and FIRST Washington grants 
3. Participate in one or more of the community engagement options offered above
4. Take advantage of one of the remote competition options listed above
5. Access FIRST scholarships(with or without Registration) 
6. Make the most of this season!