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FTC Into the Deep Blog: Volume 14

by | Dec 12, 2024 | FTC, Newsletter

Reminders to teams participating this weekend 

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.
  • Please do not arrive early. You will not be allowed to enter the building early even if the weather is bad. Our volunteers are busy getting the event set up and ready for you – they have a very limited window to prep the venue, so please give them the time and space they need! 

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.

Last Call – 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 submissions 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

After Your Season is Over? Volunteer at Events!

For many of you, your competition season will end after your Interleague event. But that doesn’t need to be the end of your FIRST. A fantastic way to improve your team is to volunteer at an event!

If you are a coach, judging at an event (for any program) can help you understand the judging process and how to direct your students to be stronger in the judging room.

Students can learn a lot from watching other robots and connecting with students from other teams.

We have 3 events after the first of the year. 2 Semi Final events in Maple Valley (Jan 11 & 12) and State in Seattle (Feb 1) Please consider signing up as a volunteer to support those events!

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 fellow FIRST 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: FTC

  • Judges
  • Scoring Referees
  • Queuers
  • Field Resetters
  • Scorekeepers

Volunteer Roles Needed: FLL

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

Important Dates & Deadlines

FLL Submerged Blog: Volume 15

by | Dec 11, 2024 | FLL, FLL Challenge, FLL Explore

In this weeks Blog-

Events are here! 

One weekend down, one to go!

How to print a roster

Note – For teams competing this weekend and going forward!

Fundraising for Your Team!

Next weeks blog we will talk about Semifinals and State! 

Make sure you read the entire blog!

Season Info

One weekend down one to go!!

Congratulations to the teams that competed last weekend! 

I will be running around this weekend stopping in at events to see what your teams have done! Make sure to celebrate how hard they have worked and how much they learned no mater the outcome.

This day is all about them!

 

How to Print a Roster!

Every season I get questions from coaches right before events asking how to print their roster! A team roster is required at every event you attend.

If your students are not listed on your roster electronically, you still have to turn one in! You need to hand write their names on and attach a paper consent form signed by a parent or guardian for every event you attend.

Paper Consent Forms

Where do I find my roster?

Your team roster is located on your FIRST Inspires dashboard! You must have 2 coaches assigned to your team that have passed FIRST’s YPP (Youth Protection Program) screening to print!

You can folow a step by step here-

How to Print a Roster

For teams competing this weekend and going forward!

For those teams who are competing this weekend and in the future, it may be worthwhile to have your team review the challenge prompt and make sure that the problem it is trying to solve meets the criteria:
“Identify and research a problem that relates to exploring the oceans.”
In other words, it is not sufficient for the problem to simply relate to the ocean; it must relate to exploring the ocean.
There were a significant number of teams that had amazing projects that only related to the ocean, but not Exploring the Ocean.
In previous seasons FIRST has kept the Challenge topic very broad. This year they seem to have narrowed the focus – which was asked for quite a bit over the last few years. 
Challenge Overview

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. 

 

 

More From FLL

FLL Submerged Blog: Volume 14

by | Dec 5, 2024 | FLL, FLL Challenge, FLL Explore

In this weeks Blog-

Challenge-

Kevin’s Robot Corner Tonight!

 

Events are here! 

How to print a roster

Fundraising for Your Team!

Make sure you read the entire blog!

Season Info

Kevin’s Corner!

This season our WA State Head Referee Kevin T will be hosting his own coaches meetings just for robot game questions!

His next meeting is this Thursday December 5th at 7pm!

This meeting is usually only for robot game questions. With the cancelled coaches chat this week we will be answering all questions tonight! 

Our First Weekend of Events is Finally Here!!

Who is excited! I know I am!

I will be running around this weekend stopping in at events to see what your teams have done! Make sure to celebrate how hard they have worked and how much they learned no mater the outcome.

This day is all about them!  

 

How to Print a Roster!

Every season I get questions from coaches right before events asking how to print their roster! A team roster is required at every event you attend.

If your students are not listed on your roster electronically, you still have to turn one in! You need to hand write their names on and attach a paper consent form signed by a parent or guardian for every event you attend.

Paper Consent Forms

Where do I find my roster?

Your team roster is located on your FIRST Inspires dashboard! You must have 2 coaches assigned to your team that have passed FIRST’s YPP (Youth Protection Program) screening to print!

You can folow a step by step here-

How to Print a Roster

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. 

 

 

More From FLL

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.

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.
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.
There are no upcoming events at this time.

Important Dates & Deadlines