HD2: A Sprinkle of News

Greetings FIRST LEGO League Oregon,

We have a couple quick, but urgent items for your attention today:

1. WORKSHOPS - Need more attendees or they will be canceled
2. TEAM FINANCIAL Support - Last Round September 11th!
3. CORE VALUES - Adult Play and Learn Session - September 11
4. Teams need 2 ADULT COACHES
5. Delays with Coach/Mentor Background Checks
6. HYDRO DYNAMICS Season could close as early as September 30

To read this update as a blog, please click here:

Oregon Update: 2

Welcome to the first official email of the season. All Oregon FIRST LEGO League Coaches are automatically added to this list weekly! In each update, which you can read in an email or on our blog (cross posted on both G+ and Facebook), you will find out what is happening in Oregon, the important things from Headquarters in NH, and tips to keep your team on track. This blog will be posted nearly weekly and all posts are archived. 

1)  WORKSHOPS - Need more attendees or they will be canceled

Parents, Coaches, and Mentors, this is your last chance for IN PERSON training this year. All workshops END in September as your teams need to be meeting before the end of this month. If you will be helping with a FIRST LEGO League team, these are a great idea. If you are a coach, but would like to build your network with other coaches, these are a great idea. If you haven't attended a workshop in the last 3 years these are a good idea. If you are asking for Team Financial Support through ORTOP these are an excellent idea (and required!).

Please sign up for your workshop so we have enough materials and enough people to have them!
PCC-Southeast Campus STARTS Thursday! - This class may be canceled Thursday Morning if more people do not sign up!
Girl Scouts Headquarters (open to all!) on SW Barbur Blvd - Starts on Tuesday - This class may be canceled on Monday if more people do not sign up!
Hood River @ the Hood River Extension - Still Scheduled if I-84 is open. Please keep signing up!
Roseburg @ Umpqua Community College - We are very close to having enough people for this class, sign up today!
Salem @ Garmin - This workshop is going forward as scheduled!
Hillsboro High Shcool - This rapid series needs more attendees or it will be canceled
Oregon City @ Eastham Community - This workshop needs a few more attendees to stay scheduled!

Sign up HERE

2)  TEAM FINANCIAL Support - Last Round September 11th!

Team Financial Support Applications were sent to their volunteer reviewers this morning. There is

If your team needs financial support, especially if you are a new team (schools must register all previous teams before a team can be considered new), starting from scratch, and have not paid national registration, please contact Loridee and submit an application. Funds are still available for specific geographic areas as well as the general support and Oregon Department of Education FIRST grant.
one more try (if there are funds left). We will take all remaining applications on September 11 and send them to the volunteer reviewers. We will be reviewing as fast as we can to get letters to coaches in time to register for this season.

Apply for Support HERE

3)  CORE VALUES - Adult Play and Learn Session - September 11

Join special guest instructor Justin Wright for a hands-on dive into Core Values and Team Building with LEGO at ORTOP in Beaverton, from 6-9pm on Monday, September 11. This adults only night will benefit both FIRST LEGO League coaches, and Justin as he tries out some new material to help all of us understand our own barriers to the FIRST Core Values through the fun of LEGO!

The materials are aimed at adults, and I am fairly confident will help with your coaching and understanding of FIRST Core Values and what can make it harder to implement them on a team. It may also provide some insight into ways to make the FIRST Core Values real to your team.

Sign up here!


This workshop is NOT a part of the ORTOP Workshop Series, but is a special event.

Here is what the workshop will cover.

4)  Teams need 2 ADULT COACHES

Just a friendly reminder. Your team must have TWO ADULT Coaches. Both must be in the FIRST system with completed background checks so that your team can register to attend a FIRST LEGO League Qualifying Tournament in Oregon. Tournament registration opens on October 4 at 5 pm so don't wait!  Please remember Coaches MUST be over 18.  Your team may have teen mentors, but for safety, your team needs adults too!  If you have questions about the FIRST Youth Safety Policy please read more here.

If you need help getting your coaches into the FIRST system, please ask. We are getting quite good at navigating the new Dashboard too!

5) Delays with Coach/Mentor Background Checks
FIRST notified partners today that the resources Verified Volunteers uses to complete background checks are undergoing some challenges. This means that background checks are taking longer than anticipated. Just another reason to get in the queue today!  Both Coaches must pass a background check through Verified Volunteers in the FIRST Dashboard system every four years. All FIRST Volunteers also go through this process. Please be aware, this process may take longer than the 10-14 business days advertised!

6)  HYDRO DYNAMICS Season could close as early as September 30

Still thinking about starting a team for the HYDRO DYNAMICS Season? History shows that while login and get your past team number up to date. I don't want ANYONE to miss out on this amazing season!
LEGO makes more Challenge Kits than ever before, there is still a chance of selling out by September 30th or reaching Oregon's max (which is set at 530 teams), before the end of the month. There is little that can be done once FIRST locks the gates, even teams with temporary numbers will be shut out. If you know you are going to have a team, but need team support, get your application in - you won't be locked out if you are actively working towards completion - start a temporary team if it's new, or

I hope you are all staying safe with the fires around our state. It's been a rough summer for those in Central and parts of Southern Oregon, now the gorge area is getting a bit crispy too. I'm looking forward to cooling down with our HYDRO DYNAMICS season and I hope all the talk of water does our state some good.

Best Wishes,
Loridee