CARGO CONNECT Coach Email Volume 4- 12/7/21 FLL Explore World Festival Lottery Sign up!
Greetings Coaches! Welcome to CARGO CONNECT!
If you are new to this email this is the place where you will find all of the Washington specific FIRST LEGO League Explore information. Coaches and team administrators in the FIRST system for the CARGO CONNECT season will be added weekly. Every email from me will be numbered, and that number lets you know which update it is. If you miss an update you can find it on our website.
I have 6 items for you today:
- World Festival lottery sign up
- Event Assignments
- COVID Policy Updates
- Festival Registration
- Festival Information
- FIRST Washington Registration
World Festival Lottery
I just found out today I have 1 spot for World Festival in Houston!
World Festival is in Houston, Texas from April 20-23. If you are interested in attending, please fill out this lottery form by 1/1/22. I will be picking the team attending randomly on 1/5/22. You will be notified by email if you were chosen. https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/3c91b657e2a64914b51cff6c934fa20c
Teams are responsible for all fees and transportation associated with this event. All communication will come from FIRST directly.
Event Assignments
Event assignments are posted here- https://firstwa.org/first-lego-league-explore/
If you do not see your assignment, look at the check boxes.
Did you complete event registration?
Did you complete FIRST Washington registration?
Invoices will go out next week!
COVID Policy Updates
Our updated COVID Policy is posted on our website. https://firstwa.org/covid-updates/
You should all read the official policy but here are some important things to know:
- All event volunteers (which includes mentors/coaches) are required to be vaccinated.
- Participants need to show either proof of vaccination or negative COVID test at the door (Negative PCR test within 5 days or a negative rapid test)
- Spectators (if allowed, that is up to the venue) 12 and over need to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test at the door (Negative PCR test within 5 days or negative rapid test)
- Masks are required for All participants
Teams will be required to turn in their roster at every event (this is our contact tracing method for students and mentors/coaches and a FIRST rule)
Spectators will need to give contact tracing info at the door.
What we need from all of you
- Pack your patience and Gracious Professionalism. This is new to all of us.
- Volunteers will be checking Vaccination/Negative COVID Status so please treat them respectfully. If you have a concern, contact me but don’t yell at them, they have a tough job.
- Volunteers will be policing masks so again, treat them kindly and with respect (and ask your participants & spectators to do the same)
I know this is all inconvenient but focus on the positive, most of our students are able to attend in person events and connect with students from teams around them!
Festival Registration
To register for a Festival event, you need to have filled out the FIRST Washington registration and the Event registration. You can find the event registration here- https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/e98bacf16c2f4d41a2eca4c604ebd515
Festival Schedule*-
Remote February date tbd
Snohomish March 5th
Yakima March 19th
Spokane April 9th
*If 2 or less teams sign up for an in person event, that event will be cancelled and your team will be asked to move to a different event.
Festival Information
This season events will be run both remotely over Zoom and in person. Events will be in the morning from about 9am-12pm.
Teams participating in a remote event will log in and be assigned to their own breakout room. You can have students join from their own houses, they do not need to be in the same house. Additional participants such as parents or grandparents are not able to attend due to privacy reasons. The Zoom link is for team members only.
Reviewers will visit the teams in their breakout rooms to talk to the teams. When the reviewing is over, we will all be returning to the main room to play a short game and then will have the awards ceremony.
Teams will receive an awards certificate and medals for their team members. I will need a mailing address for the team to send these to.
All team members will need to be added to the teams roster online for the teams to be added to the Remote Event Hub.
Teams participating in person will sign up for an event and attend with their team. They will set up their model and poster, reviewers will come around and talk to the teams, then we will have a short awards ceremony. Teams will send one student to collect their awards certificate. We will not be doing a high five line. Coaches will collect the medals for their team after the awards ceremony.
I am still working on venues for the in person events, but know that there are less venues this season, and may not be one in your area.
If you have any other questions, please email me.
FIRST Washington Registration
Starting this season, all teams attending events, either remote or in person, need to register with FIRST Washington. This is in addition to your event registration form you fill out.
You will need to fill out the FIRST Washington registration, your event registration, and paid your $50 invoice for attending an event before you are confirmed in your event.
FIRST Washington registration form- https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/100490589b604dd5ab6a307ef27cd0b8
Useful Contacts
- National Team Registration, Youth Protection, Student Registration, Challenge Information: fllexplore@firstinspires.orgor firstinspires.org
- Tournament Registration & Participation, Local Information, Facebook: Jacqueline Grimm, jacqueg@firstwa.org
- Booster Accounts: boosters@firstwa.org
- Invoices and Payments: FIRSTWashington Accounting, accounting@firstwa.org
Jacqueline Grimm
Program Manager