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FRC Reefscape Blog: Volume 11

by | Dec 4, 2024 | FRC, Newsletter

Invoices Went Out Last Week!

Just want to make sure everyone is aware that invoices were emailed to the contact designated on the PNW FRC Registration form on November 26.  The invoices come from our accounting software Aplos and often end up in people’s spam folder.  

If you did not receive an invoice, please…

  1. Check your spam folder 
  2. Send me an email (acollins@firstwa.org) with your team number and I can confirm who the invoice was supposed to be sent to and if needed, help you get a copy re-sent. 

Fundraising for your team

Many of you have booster accounts with us and either have fundraising links set up (through give lively, benevity, etc…).

It is imperative that you make sure your team number gets put on any and all donations we receive whether by check or electronically.  We support over 1000 teams and many of them have booster accounts.  We have NO WAY of knowing a donation from James Smith should go to your team unless they tell us your team number (not your team name or school name or coach name or mentor name or student name or parent name – hopefully you are getting the point). 

We are a VERY small staff to support all teams in the PNW and Washington… and when we have to take time to chase down donations, it prevents us from doing the work necessary to support all of you!

If your team number is not listed on your donation, you are at risk of those funds not being deposited into your booster account. We just have no way of knowing how to contact the donor or who the funds are for… and it is not our responsibility. 

Please make sure your instructions to your sponsors are clear when it comes to making donations to your FIRST Washington booster account.

FIRST Washington is not responsible for donations not getting deposited due to lack of documentation from donors. That is YOUR responsibility to correct.

Help US help YOU! 🙂

The November Coaches Chat will take place on Thursday, December  5th at 7:00 pm

The November Coaches Chat was rescheduled due to much of Washington state losing power in November. It is scheduled for Thursday, December 5th at 7:00 pm.  Coaches chats are an opportunity for use to share important information with all of you as well as help you connect with other coaches.  We recommend each team have one coach attend.

There are no upcoming events at this time.

We Want YOUR Feedback! 

FIRST Washington strives to support coaches in building sustainable and supported teams. We’d love to hear from you how we’re doing.

Please take time to fill out the survey below to let us know how prepared you feel for the upcoming season and how you feel about your team’s sustainability.

The survey is anonymous and will not collect your name/email or team number. All questions are optional, and any that you complete will help. Thank you for supporting an improved experience for all teams! 

Feedback Survey

Volunteer with FTC or FLL!

We have 27 FTC and FLL Challenge events in December alone, and we need over 1,400 volunteers to run them! Please organize your team to register today! Volunteering at FLL and FTC events is NUMBER ONE way your team can support FIRST growth in your community, and you’ll have a blast doing it! 

For coaches and mentors, Judging or Refereeing is a great local team netoworking opportunity. And for FRC Students, volunteering in any role is a great way to work towards any service hour requirements for graduation.

If there is an FLL or FTC event in your school district and your team isn’t already supporting it, please consider mobilizing your team to help out! We understand this time of year is busy, but many of our FLL and FTC hosts depend on FRC teams to help fulfill volunteer roles. 

You can always reach out to us if you want more guidence about how to help out. Email Mara Kealey at marak@firstwa.org.

Volunteer Roles Needed: (both programs)

  • Referees
  • Judges
  • Queuers
  • Field Resetters
  • Scorekeepers
How to Register
There are no upcoming events at this time.

Important Dates

  • December 5:  FRC Coaches Chat 
  • December 10:  FRC Invoices secured 
  • December 14:  Bunnybots Oregon & Washington 
  • December 19:  FRC Coaches Chat This will be cancelled since the Nov coaches chat was pushed into December 
  • January 4:  FRC Kickoff!! (Remember, FIRST Washington registration must be secured to pick up your kit!) 

FTC Into the Deep Blog: Volume 13

by | Dec 4, 2024 | FTC, Newsletter

Turing League Meet 2 AND Spencer League Meet 2 are RESCHEDULED for December 8th

We appreciate all the teams in these Leagues for their patience as we work to reschedule events postponed by extreme weather.

Turnig League Meet 2 will take place on December 8th – All event details besides the date change (location, time. participating teams, etc.) remain the same.

Spencer League Meet 2 has also been rescehduled for December 8th – All event details besides the date change (location, time. participating teams, etc.) remain the same.

We understand notification of the Spencer LM2 reschedule is short notice, but the school district was out of power and unreachable (due to the holiday) until yesterday.

If you are a team participating in either of these events, please reach out to your League Host.

Next FTC Coaches Chat, Tuesday, December 17 at 7:00 pm 

Our next coaches chat is scheduled for Tuesday, December 17th at 7:00 pm.  Coaches chats are an opportunity for use to share important information with all of you as well as help you connect with other coaches.  We recommend each team have one coach attend.  Click here for meeting link. 

There are no upcoming events at this time.

Dean’s List Nominations are Due December 15th 

We will once again be having remote Dean’s List Interviews in January (More info on the Interview window will be sent to coaches after nominations close in December)

Lead and Alternate Coaches can nominate their students from their firstinspires dashboard until December 15th.

Don’t wait until the last minute, get your nominations in today.

Nomination Guide

General Interleague Event Info 

Coaches should be receiving emails with specifics on your Interleauge event, but I wanted to give some general reminders here: 

  • You must bring your team roster and signed consent forms to your Interleague.  These are required by FIRST HQ for every event that your team attends.  The events will not have the ability to print these for you so you must print them off ahead of time and turn them in when you check in your team. 
  • Please bring safety glasses for your students, mentors and spectators.  Safety glasses should be worn around the field area as well as in the pits. 
  • Bring an extension cord and power strip so your team can tie into the power available in the pit area. 
  • Reminder, this is an all day event where judging happens in the morning. You may want to tell spectators come either when matches start or after lunchtime, there won’t be much for them to see in the morning. 

Fundraising for Your Team

Many of you have booster accounts with us and either have fundraising links set up (through give lively, benevity, etc…)  It is imperative that you make sure your team number gets put on any and all donations we receive whether by check or electronically.  We support over 1000 teams and many of them have booster accounts.  We have NO WAY of knowing a donation from James Smith should go to your team unless they tell us your team number (not your team name or school name or coach name or mentor name or student name or parent name – hopefully you are getting the point) We are a VERY small staff that must do many different tasks to support all teams in the PNW and Washington and when we have to take time to chase down donations, it prevents us from doing other things we need to do to support all of you!

If your team number is not listed on your donation, you are at risk of those funds not being deposited into your booster account because we just have no way of knowing how to contact the donor or who the funds are for.  Please help us help you by making sure your instructions to your sponsors are clear when it comes to making donations to your FIRST Washington booster account.

We Want Your Feedback! 

FIRST Washington strives to support coaches in building sustainable and supported teams. We’d love to hear from you how we’re doing. Please take time to fill out the survey below to let us know how this season is going and how you feel about your team’s sustainability.

The survey is anonymous and will not collect your name/email or team number. All questions are optional, and any that you complete will help. Thank you for supporting an improved experience for all teams! 

Feedback Survey

Volunteer with FTC or FLL!

We have 27 FTC and FLL Challenge events in December alone, and we need over 1,400 volunteers to run them! Please organize your team to register today! Volunteering at FLL and FTC events is NUMBER ONE way your team can support FIRST growth in your community, and you’ll have a blast doing it! 

For coaches and mentors, Judging (at events your team is NOT competing at) is a great way to learn about the judging process.

And for FTC students, volunteering in any role is a great way to work towards any service hour requirements for graduation.

If there is an FLL or FTC event in your school district and your team isn’t already supporting it, please consider mobilizing your team to help out! We understand this time of year is busy, but many of our FLL and FTC hosts depend on FRC teams to help fulfill volunteer roles.

You can always reach out to us if you want more guidence about how to help out. Email Mara Kealey at marak@firstwa.org.

Volunteer Roles Needed: (both programs)

  • Referees
  • Judges
  • Queuers
  • Field Resetters
  • Scorekeepers
How to Register
There are no upcoming events at this time.

Important Dates & Deadlines

  • February 1:  FTC State

FTC Into the Deep Blog: Volume 12

by | Nov 26, 2024 | FTC, Newsletter

Last weeks coaches chat posted on the firstwa website 

Last weeks coaches chat has been posted here on the firstwa.org Webinars page.  The focus was on the upcoming Interleague events and what to expect.  If you missed the coaches chat, make sure to look through the slides and watch the recording so you can be prepared for your Interleague Championship event. 

 

Dean’s List Nominations are Due December 15th 

We will once again be having remote Dean’s List Interviews in January (More info on the Interview window will be sent to coaches after nominations close in December)

Lead and Alternate Coaches can nominate their students from their firstinspires dashboard until December 15th.

Don’t wait until the last minute, get your nominations in today.

Nomination Guide

Volunteer with FTC or FLL!

We have 27 FTC and FLL Challenge events in December alone, and we need over 1,400 volunteers to run them! Please organize your team to register today! Volunteering at FLL and FTC events is NUMBER ONE way your team can support FIRST growth in your community, and you’ll have a blast doing it! 

For coaches and mentors, Judging (at events your team is NOT competing at) is a great way to learn about the judging process.

And for FTC students, volunteering in any role is a great way to work towards any service hour requirements for graduation.

If there is an FLL or FTC event in your school district and your team isn’t already supporting it, please consider mobilizing your team to help out! We understand this time of year is busy, but many of our FLL and FTC hosts depend on FRC teams to help fulfill volunteer roles.

You can always reach out to us if you want more guidence about how to help out. Email Mara Kealey at marak@firstwa.org.

Volunteer Roles Needed: (both programs)

  • Referees
  • Judges
  • Queuers
  • Field Resetters
  • Scorekeepers
How to Register
There are no upcoming events at this time.

Important Dates & Deadlines

  • February 1:  FTC State

FRC Reefscape Blog: Volume 10

by | Nov 26, 2024 | FRC, Newsletter

Invoices Went Out Today!

Thank you for your patience, between the delay in getting the info we needed from FIRST and the weather last week, invoices went out much later than planned.   

Invoices were sent to the person that was designated on the PNW FRC registration form and include grants from your firstinspires dashboard as well as FIRST Washington or Ortop (where applicable) 

***New this year, MySite fees will be included on the invoice this year so if your team chose MySite for kickoff, expect to see that added to your invoice. 

Because invoices went out later than expected, we changed the secured date to December 10 to give you two weeks to secure it.  Remember, you can secure your invoice with a PO or pay by check or Credit Card.  Because of how winter break falls this year, it is critical that you secure your registration before you go on break or you may not receive your kickoff kit. 

If you have questions about your invoice or did not receive it please email me directly.  Include your team number in your email 

 

The November Coaches Chat was moved to Thursday, December  5 at 7:00 pm

Our next coaches chat is scheduled for Thursday, December 5th at 7:00 pm.  Coaches chats are an opportunity for use to share important information with all of you as well as help you connect with other coaches.  We recommend each team have one coach attend.  Click here for meeting link  

 

There are no upcoming events at this time.

Volunteer with FTC or FLL!

We have 27 FTC and FLL Challenge events in December alone, and we need over 1,400 volunteers to run them! Please organize your team to register today! Volunteering at FLL and FTC events is NUMBER ONE way your team can support FIRST growth in your community, and you’ll have a blast doing it! 

For coaches and mentors, Judging or Refereeing is a great local team netoworking opportunity. And for FRC Students, volunteering in any role is a great way to work towards any service hour requirements for graduation.

If there is an FLL or FTC event in your school district and your team isn’t already supporting it, please consider mobilizing your team to help out! We understand this time of year is busy, but many of our FLL and FTC hosts depend on FRC teams to help fulfill volunteer roles. 

You can always reach out to us if you want more guidence about how to help out. Email Mara Kealey at marak@firstwa.org.

Volunteer Roles Needed: (both programs)

  • Referees
  • Judges
  • Queuers
  • Field Resetters
  • Scorekeepers
How to Register
There are no upcoming events at this time.

Important Dates

  • December 6:  FRC Coaches Chat 
  • December 10:  FRC Invoices secured 
  • December 14:  Bunnybots Oregon & Washington 
  • December 19:  FRC Coaches Chat This will be cancelled since the Nov coaches chat was pushed into December 
  • January 4:  FRC Kickoff!! (Remember, FIRST Washington registration must be secured to pick up your kit!) 

FTC Into the Deep Blog: Volume 11

by | Nov 15, 2024 | FTC, Newsletter

Next FTC Coaches Chat is Tuesday, November 19 at 7:00 pm 

Our next coaches chat is scheduled for Tuesday, November 15 at 7:00 pm.  Coaches chats are an opportunity for use to share important information with all of you as well as help you connect with other coaches.  We recommend each team have one coach attend.  Click here for meeting link.

We will be focusing on the Interleague events during this meeting.

There are no upcoming events at this time.

Dean’s List Nominations are Due December 15th 

We will once again be having remote Dean’s List Interviews in January (More info on the Interview window will be sent to coaches after nominations close in December)

Lead and Alternate Coaches can nominate their students from their firstinspires dashboard until December 15th.

Don’t wait until the last minute, get your nominations in today.

Nomination Guide

Event Results

Since all leagues have now had their first event, I wanted to point out where to go to see event results and rankings.  You can find them here:  https://ftc-events.firstinspires.org/#allevents 

Go to the week your event was held and select your league for results. 

Volunteer with FTC or FLL!

We have 27 FTC and FLL Challenge events in December alone, and we need over 1,400 volunteers to run them! Please organize your team to register today! Volunteering at FLL and FTC events is NUMBER ONE way your team can support FIRST growth in your community, and you’ll have a blast doing it! 

For coaches and mentors, Judging (at events your team is NOT competing at) is a great way to learn about the judging process.

And for FTC students, volunteering in any role is a great way to work towards any service hour requirements for graduation.

If there is an FLL or FTC event in your school district and your team isn’t already supporting it, please consider mobilizing your team to help out! We understand this time of year is busy, but many of our FLL and FTC hosts depend on FRC teams to help fulfill volunteer roles.

You can always reach out to us if you want more guidence about how to help out. Email Mara Kealey at marak@firstwa.org.

Volunteer Roles Needed: (both programs)

  • Referees
  • Judges
  • Queuers
  • Field Resetters
  • Scorekeepers
How to Register
There are no upcoming events at this time.

Important Dates & Deadlines

  • February 1:  FTC State

FRC Reefscape Blog: Volume 9

by | Nov 14, 2024 | FRC, Newsletter

PLEASE NOTE: We are working with FIRST to get our PO applied but it is being held up by some grants on FIRST Inspires end.  I know many of you are concerned because you can not currently access FIRST Choice.  You should be able to access FIRST Choice next week once FIRST is able to apply our PO to all team accounts.

Invoices Will Go Out Next Week! 

Now that FIRST event & kickoff registration is closed, we are in the process of finalizing FIRST, FIRST Washinton and ORTOP grants.  Invoices should go out next week to the contact listed on the PNW Registration form. 

***New this year, MySite fees will be included on the invoice this year o if your team chose MySite for kickoff, expect to see that added to your invoice. 

Invoices should be secured by December 8.  Because of how winter break falls this year, it is critical that you secure your registration before you go on break or you may not receive your kickoff kit. 

 

OSPI Checks will be Mailed the end of this Week 

For all Washington State Public Schools, your OSPI checks should get mailed out the end of this week to the contact listed on your application. 

Next FRC Coaches Chat, Thursday November 21 at 7:00 pm

Our next coaches chat is scheduled for Thursday, November 21 at 7:00 pm.

Coaches chats are an opportunity for use to share important information with all of you as well as help you connect with other coaches.  We recommend each team have one coach attend.

 

There are no upcoming events at this time.

Volunteer with FTC or FLL!

We have 27 FTC and FLL Challenge events in December alone, and we need over 1,400 volunteers to run them! Please organize your team to register today! Volunteering at FLL and FTC events is NUMBER ONE way your team can support FIRST growth in your community, and you’ll have a blast doing it! 

For coaches and mentors, Judging or Refereeing is a great local team netoworking opportunity. And for FRC Students, volunteering in any role is a great way to work towards any service hour requirements for graduation.

If there is an FLL or FTC event in your school district and your team isn’t already supporting it, please consider mobilizing your team to help out! We understand this time of year is busy, but many of our FLL and FTC hosts depend on FRC teams to help fulfill volunteer roles. 

You can always reach out to us if you want more guidence about how to help out. Email Mara Kealey at marak@firstwa.org.

Volunteer Roles Needed: (both programs)

  • Referees
  • Judges
  • Queuers
  • Field Resetters
  • Scorekeepers
How to Register
There are no upcoming events at this time.

Important Dates

  • November 21:  FRC Coaches Chat 
  • November 22:  FRC Invoices sent to designated contact 
  • December 6:  FRC Invoices secured 
  • December 14:  Bunnybots Oregon & Washington 
  • December 19:  FRC Coaches Chat 
  • January 4:  FRC Kickoff!! (Remember, FIRST Washington registration must be secured to pick up your kit!)