Donate

FTC DECODE Blog: Volume 19

by | Jan 5, 2026 | FTC, Newsletter

Compass Award Submissions

Each team may submit a mentor for the Compass Award.  For more information on the Compass Award, please see page 53 of the game manual here:  https://ftc-resources.firstinspires.org/ftc/game/manual  

To submit a mentor for the Compass award, please fill out this form by 5:00 pm January 24th.  the winner will be announced at the FTC State Championship competition January 31. 

All teams are eligible to submit a mentor for the Compass Award, you do not need to be qualified for the State Championship to be considered. 

FTC Coaches Chat this Thursday, 1-8 at 7:00 pm 

We will have our next coaches chat this Thursday at 7:00 pm.   

Click here to join the chat on Thursday! 

CTSO Survey – Washington Teams Only

WASHINGTON TEAMS ONLY 

 FIRST Washington is seeking the community’s opinion on whether to pursue approval as a Career-Technical Student Organization (CTSO) with the State of Washington and OSPI. If your school and/or team could be affected by this decision, we invite you to spend a few minutes letting us know how you might be impacted. For any questions, please reach out to Alida (alidam@firstwa.org). 

 https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/7a5a1196d00c45819fdfa2f068014eaa 

Important Dates & Deadlines

  • 1-31:  State Championship 

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

FTC DECODE Blog: Volume 18

by | Dec 22, 2025 | FTC, Newsletter

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

We will not be checking or responding to email during that time.   

We will return emails starting January 5th.   

Have a wonderful holiday and new year!   

Important Dates & Deadlines

  • 1-31:  State Championship 

FRC REBUILT Blog: Volume 18

by | Dec 22, 2025 | FRC, Newsletter

Slide deck and recording from the Dec 16 coaches chat are posted 

    If you missed the coaches chat last week, you can find the slide deck and recording here:  https://firstwa.org/webinars/  

    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!   

    Important Dates

    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!

    There are no upcoming events at this time.

    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