*It has come to my attention that people are not receiving my emails the way I usually send them, so I am trying a new way. I apologize if you have unsubscribed through the website and are receiving an unwanted email. I will be sending emails this way in the future. Thanks for your patience.

If you are new to this email this is the place where you will find all of the Washington specificFIRSTLEGO League information. Coaches and team administrators in theFIRSTsystem for the CITY SHAPER season will be added weekly. Starting this season, every email from me will be numbered. That number lets you know which update it is, if you miss an update youcan find it on our website.

I have 5 items for you today-

1. Grants Close Tomorrow! Please Apply!!

2. Facebook group for coaches

3. Spokane Kickoff

4. Kickoff Workshops Online!

5. FIRST Washington DEI Workshops

Grant Information!

Not many teams have applied for grants, especially OSPI! In order for us to continue to receive money from OSPI and other sources, we need you to apply so we can give you the money! The deadlines for the FIRST Washington and OSPI grants is September 19^th! That is tomorrow! Do not wait! Apply now!

2.) FIRST Washington grant: Open Now. Deadlines are: FIRST LEGO LeagueSeptember 19.To apply:https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/8e944e032ad74f98864853f98fa03a44.

3.) OSPI iGrants: Open Now. Deadline September 19 This generous grant is a building grant for Washington teams only who must compete in FIRST Washington competitions during the 2019-2020 school year. Teams must be public school-based or sponsored by the school. To complete the grant, please work with your school finance office or CTE, and they must log in under the school, not the district for these are building level grants.FIRST LEGO League: form 605

Other opportunities:

4.) Microsoft: Teams who have a Microsoft employee involved as a coach/mentor not only will benefit tremendously in building their programming, computer science and engineering skills and soft skills, Microsoft will generously match their hours of volunteering with your team at $25/hour. Many FIRST Washington teams leverage this generous partnership and we encourage you to go find a Microsoft employee and invite them to your team!

–

Facebook Group for Coaches

One of the best ways to get questions answered is to connect with other FIRST LEGO League coaches.

Join our private Facebook group for Washington FIRST LEGO League coaches only. New and Veteran coaches and our Regional Head Refereeare members of the group. Use this link to join

Please note: you will be asked a couple questions when you join, these are to help keep this group only open to coaches. It will speed up the joining process if you answer these when you apply.

–

Spokane Kickoff Event

Save the Date! There will be a kickoff event in Spokane on September 26th From 5:30 to 7pm at the Girls Scouts building, 1404 N Ash St, Spokane, WA 99201. It will be in the Gym.

–

Kickoff Workshops Online!

This season we are moving our kickoff event to an online format. All coaches are welcome to attend! The sessions will be twice a week at 7pm. Click on the link to register!

Tuesday, September 24th at 7pm- Programming- register here

Thursday, September 26th at 7pm- New Coach Information- register here

Tuesday, October 1st at 7pm- Robot Game- register here

Thursday, October 3rd at 7pm- Judging- register here

Tuesday, October 8th at 7pm- Fundraising- register here

–

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

FIRST Washington’s DEI Workshops this fall! With FIRST Washington’s commitment to equity and access, we are pleased to partner with three of our FIRST Robotics Competition teams to host half day workshops for all coaches, mentors and volunteers. We have a professional DEI facilitator, Tareena Joubert joining us for these days.

The goal of these workshops is to support our communities, coaches and mentors in welcoming all students. Part of the success in recruiting students is broadening our base of coaches/mentors and volunteers who look like students. Helping FIRST broaden our base of adults to include more women, persons of color, diverse professional backgrounds will help us position FIRST programs as inclusive and welcoming to all. Please join one of these workshop by signing up today to learn some tips and tools on how you can assist!

1.Saturday, September 28^th: 9 a.m. – 1 p.m., Lewis and Clark High School, Spokane. Thank you Titanium Tigers, FRC team 2944 for hosting! RSVP: here

2.Saturday, October 5^th: 10 a.m. -2 p.m. Seahome High School, Bellingham. Thank you Seamonsters, FRC team 2605 for hosting! RSVP here.

3.Saturday, November 16^th, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m., Environmental Learning Center, Point Defiance. Thank you SOTABots, FRC team 2557 for hosting! RSVP here.

Upcoming Events/Dates

· September 19: FIRST WA and OSPI Grants Close

· September 24: Online Programming Workshop

· September 26: Online New Coach Workshop

· September 26: Spokane Kickoff

· October 1: Online Robot Game Workshop

· October 3: Online Judging Workshop

· October 8: Online Fundraising Workshop

· December 7&8: Qualifier Tournaments

· December 14&15: Qualifier Tournaments

Useful Contacts

· National Team Registration, Youth Protection, Student Registration, Challenge Information:firstlegoleague@firstinspires.orgorwww.firstinspires.org

· Tournament Registration & Participation, Local Information, Facebook:Jacqueline Grimm,jacqueg@firstwa.org

· Robot Game Questions: WA Regional Head Referee, Kevin Torrico,fllheadreferee@firstwa.org

· FIRSTGame Questions:fllrobotgame@firstinspires.org

· Fundraising, Grants, Advocacy:FIRSTWashington President, Erin McCallum,erin@firstwa.org

· Booster Accounts (setup or using funds), Invoices and Payments:FIRSTWashington Accounting,accounting@firstwa.org

Important Links

· Past Coach Communications:https://firstwa.org/Team-Resources/FIRST-LEGO-League-Team-Resources/Communications-Questions-2019-20-Season

· City Shaper Challenge:https://www.firstinspires.org/resource-library/fll/challenge-and-resources

· FIRST Steps:http://info.firstinspires.org/fll-first-steps-request

· Youth Registration Overview: https://www.firstinspires.org/resource-library/youth-team-member-consent-and-release-form