HD10: Graciously Dispersed Tricks and Treats

Greetings FIRST LEGO League Oregon,

In this update, you will find:

1. Gracious Professionalism and Sharing Opportunities with ALL Teams
2. Volunteer Registration is OPEN for All Oregon Events
3. November Mission Model Discussion
4. Tournament Assignments Are Now Posted (3 days early!)

Use this link to read this update as a blog post

Oregon Update: 10

Welcome to the official FIRST LEGO League Oregon Update. 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. All official updates this season will be numbered HD# If you've missed an update, please read the archive to catch up!

1) Gracious Professionalism and Sharing Opportunities with ALL Teams

We use our FIRST Core Values in ALL THINGS. The FIRST Core Values are a big part of what setsa FIRST team apart from participants other robotics programs.  The Core Values are taken very seriously in Oregon. By teaching and practicing Gracious Professionalism we are training a group of young world-changers who will have the skills to be heard, understood, and accepted as they improve the world around them. Even if a team member never pursues a career in STEM, we hope that the Core Values of FIRST will go with them into all of their life's pursuits.

This is one of the reasons it was so overwhelmingly disappointing when only 2 teams kept their scheduled time slots at OMSI on Saturday, October 28. This was not only a poor representation to OMSI, who is letting us use space to share our innovative solutions for free and providing access to their museum, but it was very unfortunate to all of the teams who came to see the presentations to learn more about what innovative solutions their peers have created.

We will have one more series of teams sharing, for which OMSI is going above and beyond to try to give us a SECOND table (for the two teams that came on Saturday, you understand how snug that is going to be, the space we have is not large). Many teams immediately jumped at the opportunity to fill these spaces, however; several more missed the opportunity altogether who did want to demonstrate their solutions at OMSI. I will be going through the sign up this week to make sure no team has two slots, so that as many teams as possible may share. I also caution all of you - if you are not going to use your time slot, please delete it now so someone else who WILL BE there can use it. I have a waiting list already, but it is simply not possible to fit three tables in the space at OMSI. 

Even if your team is unable to attend our OMSI events, please remember to always take the FIRST Core Values with you wherever you showcase FIRST LEGO League. We hope that you reach out to your school, library, or other local resources to share your innovative solution with the greater public, along with your expert!

2 ) Volunteer Registration is OPEN for All Oregon Events

All Oregon events are looking for Volunteers! Please share this opportunity with school staff, friends,FIRST account.

parents, neighbors, and anyone who is looking for an amazingly fun way to spend a December weekend. To sign up as a volunteer you will need a
To get started:

• Go to www.firstinspires.org
• Login using the prompt in the upper right corner (if you need an account, create one at this time)
• Select VOLUNTEER REGISTRATION from the DASHBOARD (it's on the grey bar that goes across the screen)
• Select Volunteer at an event
• Refine Search by selecting FLL, United States, Oregon and selecting Search from the upper right corner (not found on the left side where the Refine Search options are).  You may also put in the specific town of the event if you would like. 
• Select the Volunteer button on the event you want to volunteer at (if you are coaching or chaperoning a team at that event you may not be a volunteer at the event).
• Select the roles you are most interested in. 

Teens over 13 may volunteer at FIRST LEGO League events, but are not eligible to be Judges or Referees.

3 ) November Mission Model Discussion

FIRST LEGO League Oregon Head Referee Tom Mosher and I have been working on identifying the key components of all 18 missions outlined in the HYDRO DYNAMICS manual. There will also be some clarification on model setup as there appear to be questions around that. The November Mission Model Discussion will highlight one robot game mission each day during the weekdays in November on our blog and facebook page. 

This fun series will not be sent by email, so your inboxes are safe from this treat overload!

If your team has questions about a robot game mission, first read the challenge guide carefully, then read all of the game updates. If that doesn't answer the question feel free to send your question directly to Tom Mosher at fll.rules.or@gmail.com.  Tom can not issue an official game ruling, but he is happy to help your team understand the game rules. 

4) Tournament Assignments Are Now Posted (3 days early!)

Trick or Treat! The Tournament Assignments are now publicly viewable on the ORTOP site ONLY, on the Oregon Team Status Page. They will NOT show up in your FIRST account! Some teams have still not paid for their tournament, please note that is not received your team will not be able to attend their event. :'( We don't want any team to miss out!

Some events had to be canceled because of lack of interest. If your first choice was canceled we did our best to get your team into a similar event based on the criteria you provided on the application. Not all teams received their first choice, but about 90% of teams did!

If something has come up and your tournament is not going to work for your team, we do have space in LaGrande and a couple other events. The minimum number of teams for holding an event is 12, so please keep that in mind if you need us to re-evaluate your tournament assignment. ONLY if you absolutely can not make your tournament assignment work, please email Loridee-Wetzel@ortop.org immediately and fully explain why the date or location will not work now, when it did the first part of October. I may not be able to do anything at this point, but I will read what you write and let you know.

REMEMBER ALL TEAMS MUST HAVE 2 ADULTS AT ALL TIMES AT AN EVENT. Now is a great time to get those people planned. 

Team Names can no longer be changed. You can correct them when you check in at the tournament, but keep in mind they will be printed as is.

Best Wishes,

Loridee