Donate

FRC REBUILT Blog: Volume 2

by | Aug 12, 2025 | FRC, Newsletter

Registration for Off Season Events open! 

    Off-Season Event Registration 

    Looking for a fun way to have new members experience an event, try out a new mechanism, or network with other teams? Register to attend an off-season event this fall!

    Off-season events are hosted and run by individual FRC teams, not FIRST Washington. This means each event’s participation requirement(s), fees, and timelines may vary. All events will utilize the Reefscape game.

     

    Block Party hosted by Team 2910 – Sept 6 & 7 – Event may be rescheduled or cancelled.  Host will confirm status by 8-20. 

    Location: Mill Creek, WA

    Fee: $400 (additional $100 for a second robot if space permits)

    Register for Block Party

    For questions, contact Steve Kaneb at steve.kaneb@gmail.com

     

    Oregon Girls’ Generation / FIRST Chance hosted by Team 1425 – Oct 4 & 5 

    Oregon Girls’ Gen is a girl-focused event, run as a one-day competition. Oregon FIRST Chance is a one-day event for all students and aimed at providing an opportunity for students new to FRC to attend a pre-season event.

    Location: Wilsonville High School in Wilsonville, OR

    Registration information coming soon!

    For questions, contact Tom Sommerville Jr at tom.sommerville@gmail.com

     

    Uplift Challenge hosted by Teams 4125 and 8532 – Oct 10 & 11 

    Save the date for the Uplift Challenge! This off-season event is open to teams in schools of 500 students and below. Teams in small schools have unique challenges and strengths. This is a chance for us to come together, share ideas, learn about new resources- and of course, have an-off season competition.

    Location: Umatilla, OR

    Fee: $100

    Register for Uplift Challenge

    For questions, contact Heidi Sipe at sipeh@umatillasd.org

     

    2025 Bordie Blast: Bordie at Sea hosted by Team 2412 – Oct 11 & 12 

    Load-in Friday Oct 10th

    Location: Sammamish High School in Bellevue, WA

    Fee: $300 (additional $100 for a second robot if space permits)

    Register for Bordie at Sea

    Volunteer sign-up form

    Event Website

    For questions, contact Kim Herzog at HerzogK@bsd405.org

     

    Washington Girls’ Generation hosted by Team 2046 – Oct 18 & 19

    The goal for Girls’ Generation is to provide an inclusive experience for underrepresented communities in STEM. In that spirit, we welcome all to participate.

    Optional load-in Friday Oct 17th

    Location: Tahoma Senior High School in Maple Valley, WA

    Fee: $300

    Register for WA Girls’ Gen

    Volunteer sign-up form

    Event Website

    For questions, contact Darren Collins at dcollins@tahomasd.us

     

    StormSurge hosted by Teams 2811 and 9567 – Oct 25

    Location: Skyview High School in Vancouver, WA

    Fee: $250 (one robot), $350 (two robots)

    Register for StormSurge

    For questions, contact Luke Glassett at lukeglassett@gmail.com

     

    Annual Bunnybots OR and WA 

    Email 

    2nd Annual Bunnybots WA- hosted by team 3218

    • Location: Bonney Lake HS
    • Contest date: Dec 20th, 7:30 am – 5:00 pm
    • 1-day contest
    • load in 7:30-9:30
    • 1st matches at 10 am
    This will be a new robot, built with recycled parts.
    contest rules based on typical FRC rules
    Rules released Sept 1. https://www.frc3218.org/bunnybots

    Annual Bunnybots OR

    • Contest date: Dec 13th
    Both contests will cost $150 per bot. and have room for about 20 bots.
    Here is footage from last year’s game

     

      PNW FRC Registration is open! 

      PNW FRC registration is open.  For those of you who have already registered, THANK YOU!!  For those who haven’t, please take a moment to register if your team plans to participate this year.  For FRC teams, this is the best way for us to know you plan to participate prior to when team preferencing ends the beginning of October. 

      This form also gives you access to the FIRST Washington Registration grants that are used to lower your registration. 

      Just a reminder that the District Championship fees have been decoupled from the season registration fees so the season registration fee is now $11,800.  Teams that qualify for District Championship will be charged an additional $4000.  We hope to have some funding available to defray the District Championship registration grants. 

      Registration form link:  https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/3913797ab2d24190ae51da675f49b3b5  

      Booster Policy Update 

      We have revised our Booster policy as of June 30, 2025 and it will be effective as of July 1, 2025. 

        Please review and sign off on the current booster policy here: CLICK HERE TO ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIPT 

       *Please also note that effective July 1, 2025 the link to our team donation page has been updated: 

       https://www.aplos.com/aws/give/WAFIRSTBoosters/TeamDonationForm 

       Going forward please share this link with anyone who wants to donate directly to your team! 

       Please feel free to reach out to us at accounting@firstwa.org with any questions! 

      Important Dates

      FRC REBUILT Blog: Volume 1

      by | Jul 2, 2025 | FRC, Newsletter

       Good Afternoon Teams! I hope you are enjoying your summer! 

      This blog contains lots of information, so be sure to read the entire thing. 

        Job Opportunities with FIRST Washington

        We have 3 new job listings with FIRST Washington:

        • Event Manager
        • Volunteer Manager
        • Marketing and Communications Manager

        If you are interested in joining our amazing team, click here to access the job postings and apply!  Feel free to share this information with anyone in your network who might be interested in working for FIRST Washington.

          PNW FRC Registration is open! 

          PNW FRC registration is now open.  Please take a moment to register if your team plans to participate this year.  For FRC teams, this is the best way for us to know you plan to participate prior to when team preferencing ends the beginning of October. 

          This form also gives you access to the FIRST Washington Registration grants that are used to lower your registration. 

          Just a reminder that the District Championship fees have been decoupled from the season registration fees so the season registration fee is now $11,800.  Teams that qualify for District Championship will be charged an additional $4000.  We hope to have some funding available to defray the District Championship registration grants. 

          Registration form link:  https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/3913797ab2d24190ae51da675f49b3b5  

          Attention FIRST Washington Class of 2025!

          We want to celebrate you!  Please fill out the following survey so that we can share your successes with our community of supporters: https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/d38e9ac9af0c48a4863aef810cdd26a4

          Next FRC Coaches Chat scheduled for 7:00 pm Thursday, 8-21 

          Based on feedback the two coaches chats we had this summer, we will be having a coaches chat in August that focuses specifically on becoming a 501c3.  Emil Anderson from 2928 will be presenting and will be joined by some other FRC teams that have gone through the process of becoming a 501c3 

          Unlike our other two coaches chats, we will record and post this meeting but I believe much of the value is gained by participating so I strongly recommend you plan to attend if interested.  

          Click here for the meeting link. 

          Booster Policy Update 

          We have revised our Booster policy as of June 30, 2025 and it will be effective as of July, 1,2025. 

            Please review and sign off on the current booster policy here: CLICK HERE TO ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIPT 

           *Please also note that effective July 1,2025 the link to our team donation page has been updated: 

           https://www.aplos.com/aws/give/WAFIRSTBoosters/TeamDonationForm 

           Going forward please share this link with anyone who wants to donate directly to your team! 

           Please feel free to reach out to us at accounting@firstwa.org with any questions! 

           

          Off-Season Event Registration 

          Looking for a fun way to have new members experience an event, try out a new mechanism, or network with other teams? Register to attend an off-season event this fall! 

          Off-season events are hosted and run by individual FRC teams, not FIRST Washington. This means each event’s participation requirement(s), fees, and timelines may vary. All events will utilize the Reefscape game. 

           –

          Block Party hosted by Team 2910 – Sept 6 & 7 

           Location: Mill Creek, WA 

          Fee: $400 (additional $100 for a second robot if space permits) 

          Register for Block Party 

          For questions, contact Steve Kaneb at steve.kaneb@gmail.com 

          –

          Oregon Girls’ Generation / FIRST Chance hosted by Team 1425 – Oct 4 & 5 

          Oregon Girls’ Gen is a girl-focused event, run as a one-day competition. Oregon FIRST Chance is a one-day event for all students and aimed at providing an opportunity for students new to FRC to attend a pre-season event. 

          Location: Wilsonville High School in Wilsonville, OR 

          Registration information coming soon! 

          For questions, contact Tom Sommerville Jr at tom.sommerville@gmail.com 

          –

          Uplift Challenge hosted by Teams 4125 and 8532 – Oct 10 & 11 

          Save the date for the Uplift Challenge! This off-season event is open to teams in schools of 500 students and below. Teams in small schools have unique challenges and strengths. This is a chance for us to come together, share ideas, learn about new resources- and of course, have an-off season competition. 

          Location: Umatilla, OR 

          Fee: $100 

          Register for Uplift Challenge 

          For questions, contact Heidi Sipe at sipeh@umatillasd.org 

          –  

          2025 Bordie Blast: Bordie at Sea hosted by Team 2412 – Oct 11 & 12 

          Load-in Friday Oct 10th 

          Location: Sammamish High School in Bellevue, WA 

          Fee: $300 (additional $100 for a second robot if space permits) 

          Register for Bordie at Sea 

          Volunteer sign-up form 

          Event Website 

          For questions, contact Kim Herzog at HerzogK@bsd405.org 

          – 

          Washington Girls’ Generation hosted by Team 2046 – Oct 18 & 19 

          The goal for Girls’ Generation is to provide an inclusive experience for underrepresented communities in STEM. In that spirit, we welcome all to participate. 

          Optional load-in Friday Oct 17th 

          Location: Tahoma Senior High School in Maple Valley, WA 

          Fee: $300 

          Register for WA Girls’ Gen 

          Volunteer sign-up form 

          Event Website 

          For questions, contact Darren Collins at dcollins@tahomasd.us 

          –  

          StormSurge hosted by Teams 2811 and 9567 – Oct 25 

          Location: Skyview High School in Vancouver, WA 

          Fee: $250 (one robot), $350 (two robots) 

          Register for StormSurge 

          For questions, contact Luke Glassett at lukeglassett@gmail.com

           

          Important Dates

          FRC REEFSCAPE Blog: Volume 23

          by | Jun 16, 2025 | FRC, Newsletter

          Good morning teams!  I know most of you have either just started or are getting ready to start your summer break. I hope you all have a fantastic summer break!

          I have 2 things for you this morning:

           

          1. A reminder of our coaches chat next Tuesday 6/24 at 7:00 pm.  Once again, this meeting will have a focus on fundraising brainstorming and sharing of challenges and successes. 
          Join Meeting

          2. Please make sure we have an email address that you will be checking over the summer, we want to make sure you receive any important communications that we send out! 

          Update Email

          Important Dates

          • June 24th, 7-8PM:  Coaches Chat– Fundraising Brainstorm Continued

          FRC REEFSCAPE Blog: Volume 22

          by | Jun 10, 2025 | FRC

          FRC Coaches Chat – Fundraising Brainstorm continued

          As a follow-up to our May 27th Coaches Chat, we will be continuing our discussion on team fundraising ideas to support teams with the loss of the OSPI funds on Tuesday June 24th from 7-8PM. All teams are welcome to join whether or not you are impacted by the OSPI cuts! Thoughts on fundraising in the following specific situations will be especially helpful:

          1. Rural teams
          2. Small teams
          3. ≥75% low-income teams
          4. Teams in saturated areas (many competing robotics teams and/or other activities)

          Ideas from our first session can be found on the FIRSTWA website. It is accessible via the Resources page.

          If you are interested in sharing your team marketing materials with other teams, please fill out this form.

          Join Meeting

          Off-Season Event Registration

          Looking for a fun way to have new members experience an event, try out a new mechanism, or network with other teams? Register to attend an off-season event this fall!

          Off-season events are hosted and run by individual FRC teams, not FIRST Washington. This means each event’s participation requirement(s), fees, and timelines may vary. All events will utilize the Reefscape game.

          Block Party hosted by Team 2910 – Sept 6 & 7

          Location: Mill Creek, WA

          Fee: $400 (additional $100 for a second robot if space permits)

          Register for Block Party

          For questions, contact Steve Kaneb at steve.kaneb@gmail.com

           

          Oregon Girls’ Generation / FIRST Chance hosted by Team 1425 – Oct 4 & 5

          Oregon Girls’ Gen is a girl-focused event, run as a one-day competition. Oregon FIRST Chance is a one-day event for all students and aimed at providing an opportunity for students new to FRC to attend a pre-season event.

          Location: Wilsonville High School in Wilsonville, OR

          Registration information coming soon!

          For questions, contact Tom Sommerville Jr at tom.sommerville@gmail.com

           

          Uplift Challenge hosted by Teams 4125 and 8532 – Oct 10 & 11

          Save the date for the Uplift Challenge! This off-season event is open to teams in schools of 500 students and below. Teams in small schools have unique challenges and strengths. This is a chance for us to come together, share ideas, learn about new resources- and of course, have an-off season competition.

          Location: Umatilla, OR

          Fee: $100

          Register for Uplift Challenge

          For questions, contact Heidi Sipe at sipeh@umatillasd.org

           

          2025 Bordie Blast: Bordie at Sea hosted by Team 2412 – Oct 11 & 12

          Load-in Friday Oct 10th

          Location: Sammamish High School in Bellevue, WA

          Fee: $300 (additional $100 for a second robot if space permits)

          Register for Bordie at Sea

          Volunteer sign-up form

          Event Website

          For questions, contact Kim Herzog at HerzogK@bsd405.org

           

          Washington Girls’ Generation hosted by Team 2046 – Oct 18 & 19

          The goal for Girls’ Generation is to provide an inclusive experience for underrepresented communities in STEM. In that spirit, we welcome all to participate.

          Optional load-in Friday Oct 17th

          Location: Tahoma Senior High School in Maple Valley, WA

          Fee: $300

          Register for WA Girls’ Gen

          Volunteer sign-up form

          Event Website

          For questions, contact Darren Collins at dcollins@tahomasd.us

           

          StormSurge hosted by Teams 2811 and 9567 – Oct 25

          Location: Skyview High School in Vancouver, WA

          Fee: $250 (one robot), $350 (two robots)

          Register for StormSurge

          For questions, contact Luke Glassett at lukeglassett@gmail.com

          Celebrate Pride 2025!

          All FRC teams are invited to march together in the annual Seattle Pride Parade on June 29th. This will be our fourth season marching together – a special thank you to FRC Team 1318 for organizing!

          Use the QR code below or this link to register by June 15th: https://forms.gle/WhkH3KnZHqgT8U2w7

          You can reach out to 1318 mentor Julie Irwin with any questions: Julie3Irwin@gmail.com

          2025 Season Retrospective Survey – Time Extended

          If you have not already done so, please take a few minutes to fill out our end of season survey. We’ve extended the open date through Saturday June 14th. We would love to hear what went well, what challenges you faced, and what support you need moving forward. Special thanks to those of you who have already shared feedback!

          Important Dates

          • June 24th, 7-8PM:  Coaches Chat– Fundraising Brainstorm Continued

          FRC Reefscape Blog: Volume 21

          by | May 27, 2025 | FRC, Newsletter

          Coaches Chat tonight- OSPI listening and brainstorming session

          I just want to remind coaches about our FRC Coaches Chat tonight at 7:00 pm.  We will be focusing on brainstorming solutions to help make sure all teams can participate even with the loss of the OSPI funds in Washington.  All teams are welcome because  everyone can benefit from fundraising brainstorming whether you are impacted by the OSPI funding cuts or not!
          Also, a reminder, if you have not filled out our Impact Survey related to the OSPI funding cuts, please do that ASAP.  It will help us to figure out how to deploy our resources and help us to be proactive with team support if we understand how this loss of funding affects your ability to participate.
          Click here for the survey link if you did not fill it out last week.
          Join Meeting

          FRC 2025 Season Retrospective Survey – Feedback Wanted

          As we wrap up the 2025 FRC season, we are collecting feedback to better understand your team’s experience. This retrospective survey is an opportunity to let FIRSTWA know what went well, what challenges you faced, what support you need moving forward, and whether you’re interested in hosting events in future years. Please take a few minutes to fill it out by Friday June 6th. Thank you for being part of our community!
           
          Survey link: https://forms.office.com/r/aPWC8EDkWC

          Important Dates

          • May 27th:  Coaches Chat– OSPI listening and brainstorming session

          FRC Blog: OSPI Update

          by | May 20, 2025 | FRC

          2025 – 2026 OSPI FIRST Washington Grant Update

          Action Requested:  After reading the note below, please take a moment to complete this very short [survey] by Friday, May 23 to help us understand the impact of the funding loss—and whether you may need support or be able to offer assistance to others.

           

          Hello Teams,

          Thank you to everyone who reached out to your State Senators and Congress Members, advocating for continued OSPI funding in the new State Budget. Your efforts are deeply appreciated.

          Unfortunately, the current budget being reviewed at the Governor’s office includes no OSPI funding for Teams this upcoming season- meaning that the $1.475 million dollars from OSPI distributed to FIRST Washington teams and events last year is not available for the upcoming season.

          That’s the tough news- but definitely not the end of the story.

          Leadership at FIRST Washington is committed to the following:

          • Maintaining the number of students/teams who engage and participate in the FIRST Washington community and the competitive events hosted during the season- last season this was 10,500 students
          • Maintaining the excellent customer experience levels for Students, Teams, Coaches, Mentors, and Volunteers
          • Identifying what can be done in the short term to replace the OSPI funding 

           

          We are currently assessing all available assets and cost saving measures and have also developed a robust fund-raising strategy for our upcoming Fiscal Year and season.

          Our first immediate step is making an adjustment for the 2025/26 season that will help all teams in the Pacific Northwest.  We will be decoupling the District Championship (DCMP) registration fee from the overall season registration saving teams $1,200 on their season registration fees.  Here’s what that means for your team:

          • Season registration will be $11,800 per team, which includes the $300 increase from FIRST HQ.
          • Teams that qualify for the DCMP will receive a separate invoice for the $4,000 DCMP registration fee.
          • FIRST Washington will allocate some grant funding to assist teams who may struggle with additional DCMP cost.

          Ensuring Teams have the resources needed for another successful season will require an all-hands effort and partnership with the entire FIRST Community- Volunteers, Mentors, Coaches, Schools, Corporate Donors, Foundations, and Individual Donors.

           

          Here are a few next steps:

          1. Let us know if the loss of OSPI funding may prevent your school from participating in FIRST programs next year thorough the survey link above.
          2. Start planning and budgeting now for the 2025–2026 season – explore creative fundraising opportunities over the summer and identify any alternative funding that may be available within your school district- if applicable.
          3. Begin brainstorming ways our community can support one another—sharing fundraising strategies, offering mentorship, or other collaborative efforts.
          4. Attend the webinar on Tuesday, May 27 at 7:00 pm.  Click here to attend

          We are reaching out not only to public school teams, but also to our community-based teams as well as teams in Oregon. Your experiences with self-funding and community support may offer valuable insights for school-based teams facing these new challenges.

          We’ll continue to communicate in the coming weeks as we look for ways to move forward together. We are incredibly grateful to be part of such a dedicated and resilient community.

           

          Thank you for all you do,

          Adrienne Collins,

          Director of Programs, FIRST Washington

          Important Dates

          • May 27th: OSPI listening and brainstorming session