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FLL UNEARTHED Blog: Volume 18

by | Dec 22, 2025 | FLL, FLL Challenge, FLL Explore, Newsletter

In this weeks Blog

Semifinal Assignments, Awards and Advancement info!

Holiday Closure

Make sure you read the entire blog!

Season Info

FIRST Washington offices will be close at noon 12-23 and be closed through the new year 

We will not be checking mail, processing payments or responding to email during that time.   

We will return emails and process payments starting January 5th.   

Have a wonderful holiday and new year!   

Semifinal Assignments, Awards and Advancement Numbers

Numbers of advancing teams from all events are posted here

Awards and advancement info from the events is posted here. 

Teams advancing to the Semifinals have their assignments posted. A form is also posted like the Qualifiers for teams to request changes. Like the qualifiers, this is the only way I am accepting requests for changes. 

With the event sizes not being flexible like the Qualifiers, in order to move a team to a new event a team from the requested event must have asked to switch out.

This is a longer process, and I am able to accomidate less requests.

Since it takes longer, the form will close on Friday 1/9. Assignments will be finalized end of day 1/12. 

 

Important Dates & Deadlines

  • January 13 – Coaches Chat
  • January 17/18 – Semifinals
  • January 24/25 – Semifinals
  • January 24- Eastern WA State
  • February  1st – Western WA State

More From FLL

FLL UNEARTHED Blog: Volume 17

by | Dec 16, 2025 | FLL, FLL Challenge, FLL Explore

In this weeks Blog

Volunteers Needed for Seminfinals and State!

Congratulations to those that attended the Challenge Qualifiers!

Coaches Chat 12/17- Cancelled

Semifinal Assignments, Awards and Advancement info!

Reminder from FIRSTWA

Make sure you read the entire blog!

Season Info

Challenge Qualifiers Done!

Congratulations to all teams that attended an FLL Challenge Qualifier!

We had 550 teams compete in 22 events over the last 2 weekends!

All teams that participted should be proud of what they learned and accomplished this season! 

Reminder

FIRST Washington’s office is closed for the holidays from 12/24/2025 – 1/2/2026.  If you need any reimbursements from accounting, please get them submitted before 12/24. We will not be responding to emails or processing any reimbursements during this time.

Coaches Chat 12/17 Cancelled

Our scheduled Coaches Chat for tomorrow 12/17 is cancelled. Our next Coaches Chat will be 1/13/26, just before the first Semifinal weekend! See you then!

Semifinal Assignments, Awards and Advancement Numbers

Numbers of advancing teams from all events are posted here

Awards and advancement info from the events will be posted here. 

Teams advancing to the Semifinals will have their assignment posted by the end of the day Friday 12/19. I will also post a form like the Qualifiers for teams to request changes. 

With the event sizes not being flexible like the Qualifiers, in order to move a team to a new event a team from the requested event must have asked to switch out. 

This is a longer process, and I am able to accomidate less requests. 

 

Volunteers needed for Semifinal and State Events!

We ask that all teams supply at least 1 volunteer for an event your team is not attending.

We are still in need of volunteers for our FLL Semifinals and State Championships! We are especially in need of adults to fill judging roles. If you are a coach or mentor, judging at an event other than where your students are competing is an amazing way to learn about the process and how to coach your students on exactly what they need to do in their presentation to judges.  

 We also need students in various roles – referee, scorekeeper, queuer, and field reset. This is a great way for students to meet their volunteer hour requirement! Here are the events with the greatest need: 

 January 17-18- please note these dates are different than Seattle!

Covington Semifinals- Cedar Heights Middle School, Covington

January 24-25

Seattle Semifinals- Lincoln High School, Seattle

January 24th

Eastern Washington State Championship- St. Georges School, Spokane

February 1st

Western Washington State Championship- Amazon Meeting Center, Seattle

 If you are able to help, click here to find an event near you: Search Event 

Thank you for your support in making this program sucessful for your team and others as well! We could not do it without you! 

Important Dates & Deadlines

  • January 13 – Coaches Chat
  • January 24/25 – Semifinals
  • January 24- Eastern WA State
  • February  1st – Western WA State

More From FLL

FLL UNEARTHED Blog: Volume 16

by | Dec 11, 2025 | FLL, FLL Challenge, FLL Explore

In this weeks Blog

Volunteers Needed for Seminfinals and State!

Second Weekend of Qualifiers!

Event Reminders

Coaches Chat 12/17 7pm

Award and Advancement info!

Make sure you read the entire blog!

Season Info

Please talk with your students about Gracious Professionalism and appropriate behavior at events

Coaches we need your help.  We had instances at both FLL and FTC events this past weekend where students were very disrespectful toward the venue, hosts and volunteers.

 In an effort to be more proactive, we would appreciate it if you all have a conversation with your students prior to their event where you go over what it means to be Gracious and Professional and how to behave when you are a guest in someone else’s space.   

 Most of our participants are outstanding and are not problematic at all but after the incidents this weekend, we thought a reminder would be helpful. 

 

Volunteers needed for Semifinal and State Events!

We ask that all teams supply at least 1 volunteer for an event your team is not attending.

We are still in need of volunteers for our FLL Semifinals and State Championships! We are especially in need of adults to fill judging roles. If you are a coach or mentor, judging at an event other than where your students are competing is an amazing way to learn about the process and how to coach your students on exactly what they need to do in their presentation to judges.  

 

We also need students in various roles – referee, scorekeeper, queuer, and field reset. This is a great way for students to meet their volunteer hour requirement! Here are the events with the greatest need: 

 

January 17-18

Covington Semifinals- Cedar Heights Middle School, Covington

January 24-25

Seattle Semifinals- Lincoln High School, Seattle

January 24th

Eastern Washington State Championship- St. Georges School, Spokane

February 1st

Western Washington State Championship- Amazon Meeting Center, Seattle

 

If you are able to help, click here to find an event near you: Search Event 

Thank you for your support in making this program sucessful for your team and others as well! We could not do it without you! 

Second Qualifier Weekend!

This weekend is our second set of Qualifiers! I hope everyone is excited! The first weekend went great!

A few things to keep in mind-

Please make sure you bring your teams printed roster. Many teams forgot this was a requirement! This is printed from your teams FIRST Inspires dashboard. You can find instructions on how in last months coaches chat slides here- https://firstwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/November-18-25-coaches-chat.pdf

Please remember that everyone at your event is a volunteer! They are donating their time to help with your teams event! If you have any issues at your event, please email me- jacqueg@firstwa.org

This is about the kids! This is their time to shine and to celebrate all they have learned and acomplished!

Kids do the work! That means NO coaches or parents should be working on or programing the robot.

The most important thing to keep in mind- Have Fun!!

Awards and Advancement Numbers Posted

Numbers of advancing teams from all events are posted here

Awards and advancement info from the events will be posted here after this weekend

Important Dates & Deadlines

  • December 13/14 – Second weekend of Qualifiers
  • January 24/25 – Semifinals
  • February  1st – Western WA State

More From FLL

FLL UNEARTHED Blog: Volume 15

by | Dec 2, 2025 | FLL, FLL Challenge, FLL Explore

In this weeks Blog

Urgent!! Volunteers Still Needed!

First Weekend of Qualifiers!

Event Reminders

Award and Advancement info! 

Make sure you read the entire blog!

Season Info

Urgent!!  Volunteers needed for events the next two weekends! 

We ask that all teams supply at least 1 volunteer for an event your team is not attending.

We are still in need of volunteers for our FLL Qualifiers happening in December! We are especially in need of adults to fill judging roles. If you are a coach or mentor, judging at an event other than where your students are competing is an amazing way to learn about the process and how to coach your students on exactly what they need to do in their presentation to judges.  

 

We also need students in various roles – referee, scorekeeper, queuer, and field reset. This is a great way for students to meet their volunteer hour requirement! Here are the events with the greatest need: 

 

December 6: Beaver Lake, Everett, Seattle, Spokane, and Wapato 

December 7: Everett, Seattle, Spokane, and Wapato 

December 13: Federal Way and Shoreline 

December 14: Federal Way, Shoreline, Tacoma, Oak Harbor, and Olympia 

 

If you are able to help, click here to find an event near you: Search Event 

Thank you for your support in making this program sucessful for your team and others as well! We could not do it without you! 

First Qualifier Weekend!

This weekend is our first set of Qualifiers! I hope everyone is excited!

A few things to keep in mind-

Please make sure you bring your teams printed roster. This is printed from your teams FIRST Inspires dashboard. You can find instructions on how in last months coaches chat slides here- https://firstwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/November-18-25-coaches-chat.pdf

Please remember that everyone at your event is a volunteer! They are donating their time to help with your teams event! If you have any issues at your event, please email me- jacqueg@firstwa.org

This is about the kids! This is their time to shine and to celebrate all they have learned and acomplished!

Kids do the work! That means NO coaches or parents should be working on or programing the robot.

The most important thing to keep in mind- Have Fun!!

Awards and Advancement Numbers Posted

Numbers of advancing teams from all events are posted here

Awards and advancement info from the events will be posted here after each weekend

Important Dates & Deadlines

  • December 6/7 – First weekend of Qualifiers
  • December 13/14 – Second weekend of Qualifiers
  • January 24/25 – Semifinals
  • February  1st – Western WA State

More From FLL

FLL Unearthed Blog: Volume 14

by | Nov 25, 2025 | FLL, FLL Challenge, FLL Explore

In this weeks Blog

Volunteers Needed!

 

Make sure you read the entire blog!

Season Info

FLL Challenge Events Need Volunteers!

We ask that all teams supply at least 1 volunteer for an event your team is not attending. If you are a coach, consider volunteering at an event as a judge your team is not attending! You will learn how the judging process works, and it will help you guide your team through the judging process in the future! 

As we dig into the excitement of this year’s FLL Challenge competitions, your support is essential. To ensure all students can participate in a local competition, we will host 27 events around the state of Washington! But these events don’t materialize out of thin air. They require the commitment of over 900 passionate volunteers! 

These events cannot happen without your help!

We need help in various roles, but judging is our biggest volunteer need! ALL events needs judges right now, so please sign up to help! 

Volunteer needs 

  • Judges (minimum 18 y.o.) 

       Click here to see a list of events: FLL CALENDAR 

      Click here to Register for events: REGISTER 

      Thank you for your support in making this program sucessful for your team and others as well! We could not do it without you! 

      Important Dates & Deadlines

      • December 6/7 – First weekend of Qualifiers
      • December 13/14 – Second weekend of Qualifiers
      • January 24/25 – Semifinals
      • February  1st – Western WA State

      More From FLL

      FLL UNEARTHED Blog: Volume 13

      by | Nov 18, 2025 | FLL, FLL Challenge, FLL Explore

      In this weeks Blog-

      Event Assignments for FLL Challenge finalized!

      Coaches Chat tonight 11/18!

      FLL Explore Event Registration, Locations, and Assignments

      Team Name Updates! 

      Volunteers Needed!

       

      Make sure you read the entire blog!

      Season Info

      Event Assignments for FLL Challenge!

      Event assignments are finalized for teams that are fully registered and paid. 

      I will be accepting no more updates or changes at this time. All events except Oak Harbor and Olympia are completely full. 

       

      FLL Challenge Assignments

      FLL Challenge Events-

      1st weekend:

      Chimacum (Saturday) Chimacum SD– Cancelled

      Beaver Lake (Saturday & Sunday) Beaver Lake MS

      Spokane (Saturday & Sunday) Freeman

      Wapato (Saturday & Sunday) Wapato HS

      Tacoma 1 (Sunday) Bellarmine Prep

      Seattle (Saturday & Sunday) Robert Eagle Staff MS

      Everett (Saturday & Sunday) Heatherwood MS

      2nd Weekend:

      Federal Way (Saturday & Sunday)

      Snohomish (Saturday & Sunday)

      Issaquah (Sunday) Issaquah HS

      Oak Harbor (Sunday) Oak Harbor HS

      Olympia (Sunday) Jefferson MS

      Tacoma 2 (Sunday) Bellarmine Prep

      Shoreline CC (Saturday & Sunday)

      FLL Coaches Chat

      Join us for the November Coaches Chat! We will be talking about the upcoming December Qualifier and Festival events! 

      13
      January
      Date: January 13, 2026Time: 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm

      More Info

      Registration for FLL Explore!

      The FLL Explore event registration form is posted on the FIRST Washington website. Teams are only confirmed in an event once they are fully registered and paid with both FIRST Inspires and FIRST Washington.

      If you have not already done so, and are planning to participate in December, please complete all necessary steps asap! There is still plenty of space in all December events! 

      Teams that are fully registered will have assignments posted by the end of this week 11/21

      Explore Assignments

      December Explore Events:

      Snohomish –
      Glacier Peak High School
      December 13th: 12pm- 3pm

      Spokane-
      Freeman Middle School
      December 6th: 12pm-2pm

      Bellevue-
      BSD  Steamnasium
      December 6th: 9am-11am New!

      Yelm-
      YARD (Youth Athletics Recreation Development)
      December 13th: 1pm New!

      Oak Harbor-
      Oak Harbor High School
      December 14th: 9am

      Explore Event Registration

      March Explore Events:

      Snohomish –
      Glacier Peak High School
      March 14th: 12pm- 3pm

      Sammamish-
      Sammamish High School
      March 21st or 22nd- date not decided yet.

      Bonney Lake-
      Bonney Lake High School
      March 7th: 12:45pm-3pm

      Cheney-
      Eastern Washington University
      April 11th

      Team Name Updates

      Please make sure your team names are correct on your FIRST Inspires dashboard. I will be pulling all team name information from the dashboard info this season.  

      I will not be accepting last minute team name updates in email. 

      FLL Challenge Events Need Volunteers!

       We hope you’ll sign up to volunteer and help make this season a success! FLL Qualifiers are scheduled for December 6, 7, 13, and 14. 

      We ask that all teams supply at least 1 volunteer for an event your team is not attending. If you are a coach, consider volunteering at an event as a judge your team is not attending! You will learn how the judging process works, and it will help you guide your team through the judging process in the future! 

      As we dig into the excitement of this year’s FLL Challenge competitions, your support is essential. To ensure all students can participate in a local competition, we will host 27 events around the state of Washington! But these events don’t materialize out of thin air. They require the commitment of over 900 passionate volunteers! 

      So don’t hesitate to join the fun! We need help in various roles, from refereeing, judging, scorekeeping, and more. 

      Volunteer needs 

      • Judges (minimum 18 y.o.) 
      • Referees 
      • Scorekeepers 
      • Field Resetters 
      • Queuers

       Click here to see a list of events: FLL CALENDAR 

      Click here to Register for events: REGISTER 

      Important Dates & Deadlines

      • November 18th- Coaches Chat
      • December 6/7 – First weekend of Qualifiers
      • December 13/14 – Second weekend of Qualifiers
      • January 24/25 – Semifinals
      • February  1st – Western WA State

      More From FLL